A Critical Analysis of Marketisation, Competitiveness and Equity in India’s National Education Policy 2020 through the Lens of Globalisation

Abstract

The National Education Policy 2020 of India (NEP 2020) presents an aspiring programme to reposition the nation’s education system within the global knowledge economy while expanding the access of education, quality and inclusion. This paper critically examines how globalization has moulded the policy’s priorities, underlying assumptions and instruments. Drawing on policy sociology and literature concerning global education governance, human capital theory and neoliberalism, it explores NEP 2020 as both a national reform agenda and a response to transnational policy norms. The discussion focuses on technology-enabled learning, internationalisation, teacher development, flexible learning pathways, public and private partnerships, vocational education and performance-based accountability. The analysis indicates that NEP 2020 combines progressive commitments to foundational learning, curricular flexibility, educational access and international collaboration with market-oriented emphasis on competitiveness, institutional performance, employability and workforce development. This produces a persistent tension between education as an instrument of economic productivity and education as a public and socially transformative entity. The paper further argues that the policy’s ambitions may be constrained by the digital divide, unequal infrastructure, uneven implementation capacity, teacher workload and the continuing marginalisation of rural and socio-economically disadvantaged learners. It concludes that the success of NEP 2020 will depend not simply on adopting global standards, but on translating them through meaningful teacher participation, sustained public investment, culturally responsive implementation and robust safeguards for equity. India can develop a globally engaged education system only if internationalisation and innovation remain subordinate to the objectives of accessibility, inclusion and social justice.