As NEP 2020 turns five, India’s push for tech-integrated education reveals both momentum and mismatches—between ambition, access, and actual use.
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This essay is part of the series “Five Years of NEP 2020: From Vision to Reality”
The National Education Policy 2020 provides a thoughtful, comprehensive, and ambitious perspective on integrating technology into India’s education system. With five years since its launch, this is an important moment to reflect on its bold vision to transform education through technology. NEP 2020 was not a mere incremental update; it marked a foundational shift—positioning technology as a peripheral tool and a systemic enabler of universal, inclusive, and future-ready learning.
NEP 2020 marked a foundational shift - positioning technology not as a peripheral tool, but as a systemic enabler of universal, inclusive, and future-ready learning.
Acknowledging the role of technology in making teaching and learning more engaging through accessible digital content—including translations and audio-visual aids—it also elaborates on how technology can improve planning and governance, such as forecasting subject-wise teacher demand over 20 years and enhancing transparency through public data platforms. The policy recognises emerging technological trends and their impact on school curricula, introducing new knowledge areas, such as cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI), ethics, and bias in technology for learners of all ages. It also calls for a revamp of professional and vocational courses to reflect changes in the world of work. NEP has also proposed establishing institutional structures, including the National Education Technology Forum (NETF) and the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), to build cohesive digital public infrastructure for education.
Over the past five years, India has made steady progress in integrating technology into education, particularly in expanding access to digital infrastructure. According to the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data, the availability of digital hardware in schools has increased from 34 percent in 2019–20 to 57 percent in 2023–24. Internet access has also improved, especially after 2021, rising from 22 percent to 54 percent over the same period. However, government schools still lag, with only 44 percent having access to digital infrastructure and 30 percent with access to internet connectivity in 2023–24. Stark regional disparities persist—states such as Kerala and Delhi have nearly universal access, while Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Mizoram continue to face significant hurdles.
Source: Prepared by the author using UDISE data from different years
Overcoming the access divide from the lens of including differently abled learners, attempts have been made in this direction. In December 2024, the Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, launched a dedicated Pradhan Mantri (PM) e-Vidya Direct-to-Home (DTH) Channel (Channel no. 31) for the hearing-impaired community. Special e-content for the visually and hearing impaired has also been developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on the National Institute for Open Schooling (NIOS) website/ YouTube.
The DIKSHA platform has grown to 1.89 crore registered users, with the highest surge reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, daily active users remain under 1 percent, highlighting challenges in fostering sustained engagement. COVID-19 was also when the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed guidelines for digital education—Pragyata—for teachers to design online education. The DIKSHA portal also has 21,558 e-courses for students, teachers, teacher educators, and parents. The contents available on the portal offer primers in 133 languages, including seven foreign languages. Over 63 Lakh teachers have completed the NISHTHA training on the DIKSHA portal.
While DIKSHA and the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) show promise—supported by organisations such as the Central Square Foundation and EkStep—other initiatives, including the National Tech-Enabled Education Framework (NTEF), are yet to gain traction owing to the absence of clear mandates and investment. Initiatives such as the Permanent Education Number have been introduced across different states. However, implementation has been inconsistent, and there exists no consolidated public data on the progress made so far.
Concerning new curricular areas which integrate technology, state education departments have started introducing and revamping their computer science curricula. Under this framework, Odisha has established a curriculum on computational thinking as part of the 21st-century aspirational curriculum, and Andhra Pradesh is working on integrating AI into the computer science curriculum across grades 7-12. For vocational education, an AI module has been introduced for Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) along with AI-based upskilling programmes.
Despite the slow pace, the foundation for digital transformation is being laid. This has also strengthened the need for robust data governance frameworks to safeguard student data and ensure the responsible use of AI.
While the NEP outlines a holistic vision for integrating technology in education, what happens inside classrooms often tells a different tale. In schools that have digital infrastructure, digital content has become the lowest-hanging fruit. Platforms such as DIKSHA have digitised over 7,000 textbooks in multiple languages and uploaded more than 3.75 lakh pieces of e-content, including videos, YouTube channels, and interactive materials. However, this proliferation lacks a structured approach.
Digital content has become the lowest-hanging fruit in classrooms, but without a guiding framework, it often promotes passive consumption and leaves equity gaps unaddressed.
Teachers often face basic technical barriers—including difficulties in connecting laptops to smart boards—which can discourage them from using available infrastructure. People who continue to engage with content typically choose it based on their personal preferences, without any guiding framework. As a result, learning materials range from Bollywood clips such as Jodha Akbar to YouTube personalities like Khan Sir. While some of this content is engaging, it often promotes passive consumption and may unintentionally reinforce biases related to gender, religion, or region.
A growing number of enthusiastic teachers are creating and sharing their own digital content, signalling an appetite for tech-enabled teaching.
As digital content becomes readily available, a deeper inquiry about how meaningful engagement is construed becomes necessary. There exists a need to reimagine digital content beyond consumption—enabling experimentation, curiosity, reflection, and meaning-making. Through the blended professional development course known as MasterCoach, research has shown that engaging content must be relatable, rooted in classroom realities, and designed as a learning site. Blended learning requires follow-up through nudges and human touchpoints, helping build a sense of community where teachers feel supported, seen, and heard.
An emerging dimension of technology-enabled learning is its integration with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in fostering equitable, community-led innovation. The NEP 2020 emphasises the need for scientific and technological solutions rooted in social, cultural, and environmental contexts. One initiative advancing this vision is the Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), which promote hands-on learning through tinkering and innovation.
Since 2020, the number of ATLs has increased from 5,000 to 10,000, with nearly 60 percent located in government schools. However, according to research provided by the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), most ATLs are located in schools under the central government, such as Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, with less than 5 percent situated in state government schools. This gap may narrow with the Union Budget 2025–26 announcement to set up 50,000 additional labs over the next five years.
ATLs can play a transformative role by encouraging students to use technology not just for consumption but for creation—developing solutions to real-life community problems through hackathons and design challenges. Such experiential learning deepens students’ understanding of technology’s role in society, raises critical questions around equity, ethics, representation, and bias in tech design, and fosters a mindset of responsible innovation. When rooted in local realities, these spaces empower students as creators of change, not just consumers.
Technology’s true promise lies not just in content delivery, but in empowering students to create, experiment, and solve real-life community problems.
Currently, ATLs require hefty investment in hardware and infrastructure and are established through a selection-based system in schools that meet specific criteria. This approach can be reimagined by enhancing focus on building an innovation mindset through low-cost experiential processes—such as hackathons, which are easier to scale in government systems. Second, rather than fixed-criteria selection, ATLs can be allocated as recognition for schools that show intent and have made efforts to promote innovation and tech-enabled learning. This would help ensure effective usage, greater motivation to engage with and maintain the space, and a more equitable distribution of ATLs across all types of schools—not just privileged central institutions.
The NEP 2020 acknowledges that emerging technologies, such as AI, adaptive assessments, and smartboards, can fundamentally transform not just what students learn, but how they learn. To harness this potential, India must build a technology-enabled learning ecosystem that is inclusive, equitable, and rooted in the principles of dignity, democracy, peace, and critical thinking, while equipping young people with technology skills and mindsets to ensure a thriving career pathway.
This calls for action on four key fronts. First, invest in research and development at the intersection of technology and pedagogy to ensure innovations are evidence-based and contextually relevant. Second, accelerate investment in school-level digital infrastructure. Despite a steady increase over the past few years, the UDISE+ 2023-24 report shows that only 57.2 percent of schools had functional computers, while 53.9 percent had Internet access. Third, focus on building teacher capacity through ongoing professional development. Teachers must be equipped not just to use technology for consumption but to go beyond in enabling exploration, play, and guiding students in navigating an increasingly digital world with creativity, empathy, critical thinking, and ethical reasoning.
Fourth, greater interdisciplinary collaboration—bringing together technologists, educators, social scientists, and policymakers—to reimagine the future of learning. Technology must be seen not as an end in itself, but as a means to build a more just, humane, and future-ready education system. This highlights the importance of public-private partnerships, as seen with the DIKSHA platform. These partnerships should prioritise the integration and design of technology through an educational and learning-focused perspective rather than a technology-first approach.
Neha Parti is the Director of Schools Programme at Quest Alliance.
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Neha has 17+ years of experience in education programmes. She is currently the Director for the Schools programme and part of the executive leadership team ...
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