Delhi Govt Introduces Happiness, Cleanliness and Special Curriculum:

These curriculums need no introduction. While Happiness curriculum focuses on holistic education by including meditation, value education and mental exercises for Delhi Government school children from nursery to class 8, the cleanliness curriculum is activity based with no prescribed text book and a separate time allocation. Special curriculum instills entrepreneurial skills.

CBSE Board Results Directly on Google:

Google and CBSE collaboration will enable students to check their results quickly, securely and seamlessly on their smartphone or desktop. This is the first ever initiative in result declaration process.

Govt Limits Weight of School Bags:

Guidelines have been issued by the Delhi government to cap the weight of school bags
Class I and II: Should not be above 1.5 kg
Classes III to V: Two-three kg
Classes VI-VII: Four kg
Classes VIII-IX: 4.5 kg
Class X: Five kg

No Detention Policy:

No detention policy under Right to Education Act was abolished. The will now be regular examination for classes 5-8 and the child can be detained if he fails and shall be given two month’s time for re-examination. The child will be detained in case he fails in re-examination too.

NTA Replaces CBSE:

National Testing Agency (NTA) and not CBSE would be conducting national level examinations like NET, NEET, JEE (mains). Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test and CMAT will be conducted by NTA from next year. This will relieve the CBSE, AICTE, IITs, IIMs and other agencies this responsibility and shall be able to focus more on their core mandate.

Institutes of Eminence:

‘Institute of Eminence’ status was granted to 3 public and 3 private institutes by the HRD Ministry with the aim that they will be able to make it to top 500 in international university ranking system by the next 10 years. They are IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and IISc Bangalore in public sector and Manipal Academy of Higher education, BITS Pilani and letter of intent to Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation from Private sector.

PhD must for University Teachers from 2021:

A PhD degree will be mandatory to teach at university level for the post of Assistant Professor from 2021 to improve the quality of higher education to prevent brain drain.

PM’s Research Fellowship:

Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) was approved by the cabinet in February. This would attract the talent pool of the country to doctoral (PhD) programmes of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for carrying out research in cutting- edge science and technology domains, with a focus on national priorities. A grant of Rs 2 lakhs each will also be provided to the fellows for 5 years to cover their foreign travel expenses for presenting research papers at International conferences and seminars.

Original Certificates not Required for College Admission:

UGC directed the universities and colleges against retaining of original documents of admitted students and non-refund of fees in case admission is withdrawn within one month.

Aadhaar not Needed for CBSE, NEET, UGC Exam and School Admissions:

The Supreme Court declared that providing of Adhaar card will not be compulsory for school admissions, CBSE, NEET and UGC examinations. Institutes failing to comply will be penalised to the extent of withdrawal of affiliation too and discontinuation of UGC grants.

Free to Study Abroad if Students didn’t Take NEET 2018: MCI:

The Medical Council of India (MCI) in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare decided to grant one time exemption to the students wanting to study abroad from the requirement of qualifying NEET for the academic year 2018-19.

No Re-Admission for those who Fail Class 12 Twice:
Students who fail more than two times in a class for two consecutive years will not be re-admitted in the government school as a regular student. Instead will be counseled to choose from other options like Patrachar Vidyalaya, NIOS etc. They can be readmitted on the condition that they will sit for all examinations for the board exams.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/12-education-initiatives-taken-by-the-govt-in-2018-to-strengthen-india-s-education-sector-1420340-2018-12-31