In July 2025, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of Education(MoE) inaugurated Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam (ABSS)2025 in New Delhi, Delhi, to commemorate 5 years of National Education Policy (NEP 2020).
- During the event, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan presented Letters of Intent (LoIs) to 4 foreign universities for setting up campuses in India under the University Grants Commission (UGC) (Setting Up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023.
- He also launched educational projects worth over Rs.4,000 crore, encompassing new initiatives by the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) and the Department of Higher Education (DoHE) under the MoE, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) -enabled learning applications, campus inaugurations, and more.
Exam Hints:
- What? Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam (ABSS)2025
- Celebrate: 5 Years of National Education Policy (NEP 2020)
- Where: New Delhi, Delhi
- Inaugurated by: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, MoE
- Total Cost of Launched Projects: Rs 4,000 Crore
- Letter of Intents (LoIs): Given to Western Sydney University (WSU),Australia; Victoria University (VU), Australia; La Trobe University, Australia and University of Bristol, UK.
- Digital tools unveiled: TARA App, My Career Advisor, ViBe, Bhasha Sagar, KoshaSHRI Portal and Swachh Evam Harit Vidyalaya Rating (SHVR) 2025–26.
- NEP 2020 Drafted by: Former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K.Kasturirangan, It replaced NPE, 1986 (after 34 years).
- Long-term Vision: 100% GER by 2030; Next phase of NEP for Viksit Bharat 2047
Key Dignitaries:
Union Minister of State (MoS) Jayant Chaudhary, MoE; Union MoS Dr. Sukanta
Majumdar, MoE and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDoNER); and Education Ministers from 13 State/Union Territories (UTs) were also present at the event.
About ABSS 2025:
Review NEP 2020: ABSS provided a platform for academicians, policymakers, educators, industry leaders, and government representatives to review the progress made under NEP 2020 and chart the future strategy.
4 Thematic Sessions: The sessions focused on key areas including:
- Promoting the use of Bharatiya Bhasha in teaching and learning;
- Advancing research and innovation through initiatives like the Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) to nurture future academic and industry leaders;
- Re-envisioning secondary education to achieve 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2030;
- Exploring the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enhancing teaching and learning experiences.
About NEP 2020:
Launched: The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi approved the 1st NEP of the 21st century i.e. NEP 2020 on 29th July, 2020. It has replaced the 34 years old NPE, 1986.
Aim: To increase India’s investment in education to 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India.
Drafted by: K.Kasturirangan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was the chairman of drafting committee of NEP 2020.
Key Pillars: NEP 2020 has 5 main pillars: Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability.
Note: Uttarakhand has become the first state to implement NEP 2020, announced by Uttarakhand Chief Minister(CM) Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Key Initiatives led by DoSEL:
Dedication to Nation:
KVS: A total of 22 Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) projects have been earmarked for dedication to the nation.
PM SHRI initiative: Under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) initiative, 613 top-performing schools, one from each district along with 24 best KVS (one from each region) and 7 best Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS) (one from each region), have been selected.
Foundation Stone Laid / Inauguration Highlights:
CBSE: A newly constructed Regional Office building of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was inaugurated in Digha, Patna, Bihar.
NVS: Nine newly developed campuses and infrastructural facilities of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) were inaugurated across various locations.
NCERT: The foundation stone was laid for the Central Administrative Building at the NCERT Headquarters in New Delhi.
PM-JANMAN Initiative: Under the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN), foundation stones were laid for 75 hostels across 8 states, with a total estimated cost of Rs.187.35 crore.
DA-JGUA Initiative: Under the ‘Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan’ (DA-JGUA), foundation stones were laid for 309 hostels across 12 states, with a total project cost of Rs.1,190.34 crore.
Digital Launches:
TARA App: This web portal is designed to enable data-driven decision-making in education governance by providing robust platform for examining and improving reading fluency among students in Class III-VIII.
- Key Features: Some of the notable features of this app are: Automated Observation Research Foundation (ORF) assessment which uses speech processing and Machine Learning (ML) to evaluate reading fluency from audio recordings.
- Multi-lingual Support: At present, the app supports only two languages namely, English and Hindi.
- Holistic Scoring: It measures Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM), phrasing, intonation to assess reading expression and comprehension.
- Scalability: The app has been successfully deployed across 1,200 Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) of the country, which assess over 7 lakh students.
My Career Advisor App:This digital app was launched by the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) under MoE.
- Student Empowerment: It is a comprehensive, student-centric digital platform, designed to empower students with informed career decision-making.
- Developed by: It is developed by DoSEL in collaboration with the Wadhwani Foundation and Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), a constituent unit of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Swachh Evam Harit Vidyalaya Rating (SHVR)-2025-26: It features a 5-star rating system assessing 60 indicators across 6 different categories namely, water, toilets, handwashing with soap, operation & maintenance, behavior change & capacity building, and the new Mission LiFE(LiFEStyle For Environment) Activities.
- Development: It is a robust Information Technology (IT) platform developed with NCERT, National Informatics Centre (NIC) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
- Categories at District Level: According to new guidelines, the star rating is applicable for each school and also schools have been categorised into 4 different categories: 3 Rural category-I, 3 Rural Category-II, 1 Urban Category-I, and 1 Urban Category-II.
- Categories at National Level: Maximum 200 top schools will recognized with a certificate of merit, based on the categories such as: 70 Rural Category-I, 30 Urban Category-I, 70 Rural Category-II, and 30 Urban Catergory-II.
Key Initiatives led by DoHE:
Web-based Local Language Proficiency Test Portal:
Developed by: National Testing Service-India (NTS-I) has developed a web-based local proficiency test portal.
Objective: To administer online tests assessing Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing (LSRW) skills across 22 Indian languages.
Features: It includes a database of 182,480 LSRW items covering 1,825 tests.
AI Apprenticeships under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS):
Objective: To enhance students’ knowledge and skills in AI to meet the rising industry demands across various sectors such as: Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Construction, Education, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Electronics, among others.
Monthly Stipend: The initiative offers a minimum monthly stipend of Rs 9,000 for graduates and Rs 8,000 for diploma holders.
Budget: As per DoHE, total estimated stipend support is nearly Rs 500 crore, which is jointly funded by the Government of India (GoI) and participating companies.
ViBe: Engage. Enjoy. Enlighten:
About App: It is an AI-powered continuous active learning platform.
Developed by: It is developed by the Education Design Lab at Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Ropar in Punjab.
Bhasha Sagar:
Promoting Indian Language Learning: The app, launched under NEP 2020 and the Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat (EBSB) mission as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, enables users to learn any Indian language through another Indian language, without the need to use English.
Conversation Courses: The current version of app contains a total of 18 conversation courses (485 common domain wise sentences) in 22 Indian languages and 24 vocabulary building courses (over 1600 words) in all the supported languages.
Centre of Indian Knowledge Systems and Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Sanskrit (IKS-ED):
Establishment and Collaboration: The IKS-ED was established at Deccan College (DU) through a partnership between Central Sanskrit University and the Sanskrit Dictionary Project, Pune.
Scope: The centre is responsible for overseeing the Sanskrit Dictionary Project and developing the IKS Encyclopaedia. It also manages credit-based IKS-SWAYAM courses aimed at promoting Indian Knowledge Systems through formal education.
Historical and Linguistic Coverage: This dictionary traces the linguistic evolution of Sanskrit words by analyzing over 1,500 ancient texts, starting from the Rigveda (around the 14th century BCE) up to the Hasyarnava (1850 AD). It includes content from 62 different disciplines.
KoshaSHRI Portal:
About the Portal: It has digitized all 35 volumes of the Encyclopaedic Sanskrit Dictionary and includes over 15 lakh words and 1 crore references from 1500 ancient texts across 62 disciplines.
Funded by: Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology(MoS&T) under the PM-SHRI scheme with the support of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) based in Pune, Maharashtra.
New Age Curriculum at IIT BHU & IIT Delhi:
Introduction: Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh(UP) has introduced a New Age Curriculum designed to offer flexibility and promote multidisciplinary learning for Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) students.
Academic Options Offered: Under this curriculum, students can choose from five academic options:
- B.Tech. (Bachelor of Technology),
- B.Tech. (Honours),
- B.Tech. with a Minor discipline,
- B.Tech. with a Second Major discipline, and
- An extended option to pursue B.Tech. leading to Master of Technology (M.Tech.).
Campus Infrastructure Developments:
IIT Bombay: Inauguration of Students’ Hostel and Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) Building at IIT Bombay, Maharashtra.
Central Universities(CU): CU Andhra Pradesh(AP) dedicated to the nation; CU Jammu(Jammu & Kashmir, J&K) & CU Punjab buildings inaugurated.
NIT Raipur: Foundation stone laid for Centre of Excellence for Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Engineering & Technology (CoE-IEET) at National Institute of Technology(NIT), Raipur (Chhattisgarh).
LoIs to 4 Foreign Universities:
Western Sydney University (WSU), Australia: This University will open a campus in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
- WSU plans to offer undergraduate courses such as: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Business Analytics, B.A. in Business Marketing, as well as some post-graduate courses like: Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and in Logistics & Supply Chain Management in its Greater Noida Campus.
Victoria University (VU), Australia: It will open a campus in Noida, UP and proposes to offer under-graduate courses like: Business, Data Science, Cyber Security and post-graduate courses such as: MBA and Master’s in IT.
La Trobe University, Australia: It will open its campus in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- The University proposes to offer under-graduate courses like Business (Finance, Marketing, Management), Computer Science (AI, Software Engineering), and Public Health.
University of Bristol, the United Kingdom (UK): It will establish its campus in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- The University proposes to offer joint undergraduate-to-master programmes in student exchange.
About Ministry of Education (MoE):
Union Minister- Dharmendra Pradhan (Constituency- Sambalpur, Odisha)
Minister of State (MoS)- Jayant Chaudhary (Rajya Sabha- Uttar Pradesh, UP); Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (Constituency- Balurghat, West Bengal, WB)
