Equitable and inclusive education refers to a system in which all individuals, regardless of their socio-economic background, have equal access to quality education and opportunities for academic success. It aims to address the disparities faced by socio-economically disadvantaged groups and ensure that everyone has an equal chance to learn, grow, and thrive.

NEP recognises that while policies have made steady progress towards bridging gender and social category gaps in all levels of school education, large disparities still remain - especially at the secondary level - particularly for socio-economically disadvantaged groups that have been historically underrepresented in education. Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) can be broadly categorized based on gender identities (particularly female and transgender individuals), socio-cultural identities (such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs, and minorities), geographical identities (such as students from villages, small towns, and aspirational districts), disabilities (including learning disabilities), and socio-economic conditions (such as migrant communities, low income households, children in vulnerable situations, victims of or children of victims of trafficking, orphans including child beggars in urban areas, and the urban poor).

Exclusion and inequity that SEDGs face is only amplified for the women in these SEDGs. The policy additionally recognizes the special and critical role that women play in society and in shaping social mores; therefore, providing a quality education to girls is the best way to increase the education levels for these SEDGs, not just in the present but also in future generations. The policy thus recommends that the policies and schemes designed to include students from SEDGs should be especially targeted towards girls in these SEDGs.

NEP also recognises that there are certain facets of exclusion, that are substantially more intense in higher education. These must be addressed specifically which include lack of knowledge of higher education opportunities, economic opportunity cost of pursuing higher education, financial constraints, admission processes, geographical and language barriers, poor employability potential of many higher education programmes, and lack of appropriate student support mechanism.

Access to education is also a gender problem wherein female students are often restricted from education. Several forms of learning and physical disabilities also hinder students from getting uninterrupted access to learning in safe environments. NEP 2020 also recognises the issues related to access of education to Divyang and suggests measures to be taken.

According to U-DISE 2016-17 data, about 19.6% of students belong to Scheduled Castes at the primary level, but this fraction falls to 17.3% at the higher secondary level. These enrolments drop offs are more severe for Scheduled Tribes students (10.6% to 6.8%), and differently abled children (1.1% to 0.25%), with even greater declines for female students within each of these categories. The decline in enrolment in higher education is even steeper with the total GER standing at 27.3% with GER for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes falling to 23.1% and 18.9% respectively.

In the vision 2047 for education, it is targeted that GER for Higher Secondary which in 2021-22 is 53.79% to be increased to 75.5% by 2030 and 100% by 2047. Similarly, GER for Higher Education which in 2020-21 is 27.3% is targeted to be increased to 41% by 2030 and 65+% by 2047.

It is envisioned that for equitable and inclusive access to education, following roadmap of activity for 2022-30 shall be adopted:

• Developing inclusive, equitable infrastructure: Augmenting physical (such as ramps and washrooms for CWSN) and human infrastructure (equip faculty to support students from vulnerable backgrounds)
• Revamping pedagogy to make learning inclusive: Deliver in-class instruction in the students’ mother tongue, especially in the formative years, and then pivot to bilingual instruction (English and the State’s language), with the mother tongue continued to be taught as a language
• Enabling open and distance learning: Leveraging the private sector for large-scale high-quality, inclusive online content creation, such as multi-sensory input/output, and deliver through digital platforms/universities, such as DIKHSA/SWAYAM
• Developing financial support mechanisms: Creating structured scholarship programs to enable all students to continue learning especially focussed on higher education, through both public and private philanthropic channels

For the period from 2030-47 the following activity roadmap shall be adopted:

• Establishing and universalising robust infrastructure: Set up of best-in-class inclusive phy-gital infrastructure across all districts and equipping all faculty, even from remote areas to mentor and teach students from vulnerable backgrounds. Offering all programs, across domains and disciplines, in Indian languages to make learning possible for all
• Making higher education accessible to all: Establishing high quality, multi-disciplinary higher education institutes in all districts, focussed especially on increasing women’s participation across disciplines, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
• Streamlining digital access: Expanding access to digital universities and develop high-quality teaching-learning resources in all formats, including print, audio, video, digital, AR, VR, Haptics, etc. in all spoken languages, delivered through easily open digital platforms
• Making learning affordable for all: Deploying and universalizing access to financial tools to provide scholarships, loans, and innovative financing instruments to students to enable learning across all levels and disciplines of learning.

In order to increase access and proliferation of education and to address the needs of the most vulnerable groups of learners, the government of India has formulated the following regulations which have yielded promising results:

• Towards ensuring quality education for the visually impaired, 'Talking Books' has been developed by NIOS to aid Divyang students with NCERT course on platforms like e-Pathshala & DIKSHA.
• Accessibility Guidelines and Standards for Higher Education Institutions and Universities was released in June 2022 to suggest the institutes to make provisions for persons with disabilities and to provide them an accessible environment for their barrier-free participation in all respects. It also aims to assist institutes in developing an effective accessible mechanism at their premises for the persons with disabilities ranging from the admission process till the completion of the course.
• Basic facilities and amenities for a safe, secure environment for Women and Women Cell for sensitization, policy implementation, monitoring, and grievance redressal in HEIs was released on 22.12.2022 to provide guidelines and solutions to the most pressing issues for women in educational institutes: infrastructural facilities and amenities for a safe and secure environment, and the establishment of women cells to act as centers for gender sensitization, policy formulation and implementation and grievance redressal.
• Minimum Standards and procedures for award of Ph.D. degree Regulations, 2022 which inter alia, provides that female Ph.D. scholars and Persons with Disabilities (having more than 40% disability) may be allowed an additional relaxation of two (2) years. Female Ph.D. Scholars may be provided Maternity Leave/Child Care Leave for up to 240 days in the entire duration of the Ph.D. programme.
• Guidelines for Promotion of Physical Fitness, Sports, Students' Health, Welfare, Psychological and Emotional Well-Being at HEIs of India was released on 12.04.2023 to set encourage an attitude of physical fitness and to set up Student Services Centres (SSC) in institutes to deal and manage the problems related to stress and emotional adjustment of students, especially from rural backgrounds, female students, students from divergent cultural backgrounds, and students with special needs.

4.1 Expected Outcomes of the Session

• Understanding the issues faced by the most vulnerable groups with special focus on:
  i. Female learners
  ii. Learners from marginalized communities
  iii. Learners with physical or learning disabilities
• Formulating new and innovative methods to increase the accessibility of both school and higher education
• Leveraging the role of digital means such as online classes and exams as a method of bridging the educational gap

4.2 Roadmap for the Institutes

The NEP 2020 emphasizes on ensuring that all children have access to quality ECCE, which is crucial for bridging learning gaps and promoting early development, especially for children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The policy recognizes the importance of foundational literacy and numeracy skills for all children and aims to ensure that every child achieves these fundamental skills by grade 3. This focus on early literacy and numeracy is particularly important for children from socio-economically disadvantaged groups, therefore, inclusive learning is provided in classrooms under NIPUN Bharat Program. The Government of India constitutes a ‘Gender-Inclusion Fund’ to build the nation’s capacity to provide equitable quality education for all girls as well as transgender students. Similar ‘Inclusion Fund’ schemes shall also be developed to address analogous access issues for other socio-economically disadvantaged students, and other marginalized groups. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas is being strengthened and expanded to increase the participation in quality schools (up to Grade 12) of girls from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This Policy is in complete consonance with the provisions of the RPWD Act 2016 and endorses all its recommendations regarding school education. Barrier free access for all children with disabilities is developed as per the RPWD Act under Samagra Shiksha Scheme along with Assistive devices and appropriate technology-based tools, as well as adequate and language-appropriate teaching-learning materials (e.g., textbooks in accessible formats such as large print and Braille) are made available to help children with disabilities. NIOS has developed high-quality modules to teach Indian Sign Language and to teach other basic subjects using Indian Sign Language. Assessment and certification agencies, including the proposed new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH, will formulate guidelines and recommend appropriate tools for conducting such assessment, from the foundational stage to higher education (including for entrance exams), to ensure equitable access and opportunities for all students with learning disabilities. The home-schooling option is available for children with severe disabilities. The NEP 2020 recommends an increase in scholarships and other financial support mechanisms to ensure that socio-economically disadvantaged students can access higher education and educational opportunities without financial barriers.

With these trendsetting initiatives, India aims to create a more inclusive and equitable education system. Close collaboration between stakeholders including government, policymakers, civil societies, industry, and NGOs will be crucial for accelerated impact of the same in the country. It will also help in collaborative action and allow for calibration by leveraging the expertise offered by the institutions outside of Governments.