Public consultation to follow once policy is green-signalled
PANAJI
The Directorate of Education (DoE) is awaiting the government's nod in a bid to notify the draft Goa School Education Act and Rules 2025, before keeping it open for public suggestions.
A special Task Force constituted to draft the new Act in April last month submitted ‘The Proposed School Education Act and Rules 2025’ to the department, which suggests key changes to facilitate the transition from the existing system to the new system as proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Speaking to The Goan, Director of Education Shailesh Zingade informed that the draft Act and Rules have been submitted to the State government for approval through the Department of Law. “It will take some time. It is entirely a new Act and Rules… a complete overhaul of the school education system,” Zingade said.
He said that once the law department approves the draft, the same will be notified and kept open for public consultation. “The final Act and Rules thereunder would be notified, taking the stakeholders into confidence. I cannot comment on when we will be able to implement it,” Zingade said.
Schools in Goa are currently governed under the Goa, Daman and Diu School Education Act 1984 and the Goa, Daman and Diu School Education Rules 1986.
Though the NEP has been implemented in school education in a phased manner, the new Act intends to redraw the schooling system on par with the NEP on a 5+3+3+4 formula instead of the current 10+2 model. It also proposes to reduce the emphasis on high-stakes board exams at Class X and XII grades. The new Act will also speak about the commencement of the academic year in April across all grades in future, scrapping of the No Fail policy, etc.
The State has already implemented the NEP at the foundational stage (Balvatika 1) in 2023-2024, and at Balvatika 2 and the secondary stage (Class IX) in 2024-2025, and at the middle stage (Class VI) and Class X of the secondary stage in 2025-2026. The State intends to complete the NEP implementation by 2030, covering all grades by 2027-28 and thereafter two years for cluster formation and physical restructuring.
Students in the age group of 3-8 years will be part of the foundation stage, 8-11 age group for preparatory schooling, 11-14 years for middle school, and 14-18 for the secondary level.
