As the National Education Policy 2020 enters its sixth year, India faces a defining question: can it move beyond political contestation and build an education system that truly fulfils the Constitution’s vision of equitable, high-quality learning for every child?

Independent India, born amidst the trauma of Partition, began its journey with a population of nearly 340 million and a literacy rate of barely 12 per cent. Within two years of Independence, the Constitution placed before the nation an extraordinarily ambitious educational mandate. Article 45 of the Directive Principles of State Policy declared: “The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.”

Although this constitutional goal could not be achieved within the prescribed decade, its inspirational force has shaped India’s educational journey. Today, despite the addition of more than one billion people to the population, India’s literacy rate has risen to nearly 81 per cent. This remarkable transformation reflects the enduring commitment of successive governments, educators, and society at large to expand educational opportunities. The framers of the Constitution clearly recognised that education would be the principal instrument for nation-building. It had to embrace India’s extraordinary diversity while nurturing a deep appreciation of its underlying unity. Emerging from the bitterness and human tragedy of Partition, India needed an education system capable of healing divisions, strengthening democratic values, and preparing future generations for rapid social, scientific, and economic change.

Fortunately, the nation benefited from visionary scholars, scientists, and statesmen who undertook a comprehensive review of existing educational structures and formulated forward-looking policies. Their recommendations received the support of political leadership that understood education as the foundation of national development. During the first two decades after Independence, three........

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