Reforming Education at Scale: A Critical Review of NEP 2020 and Its Global Significance

India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 constitutes one of the most ambitious public-policy overhauls in the country’s recent history, aiming to reconfigure the full education lifecycle from early childhood through higher education. This paper intends to evaluate the economic agenda of NEP 2020 and its internal and external consequences. This extended review synthesises peer-reviewed research, institutional reports, and empirical analyses published between 2020 and 2025 to evaluate NEP 2020’s modernisation agenda and its potential domestic and international consequences. The paper employs a thematic synthesis approach, examining five interrelated domains: (1) teacher education and professional development, (2) higher education governance, multidisciplinary programs and internationalization, (3) curriculum and assessment reform oriented towards competencies and foundational learning, (4) digital education, EdTech adoption and equity implications, and (5) inclusivity with special attention to language policy and marginalized groups. Key findings indicate that NEP 2020 policy advances global trends in digitalisation and internationalisation but risks exacerbating inequity, uneven readiness, and fiscal strain— multidisciplinary undergraduate programs, flexible credits and pathways, a stronger role for technology, and explicit encouragement of cross-border partnerships — while foregrounding India-specific goals such as mother-tongue foundational instruction and large-scale inclusion. However, the literature also highlights substantial implementation risks: uneven state readiness, fiscal pressures, limited teacher-training capacity, the digital divide, and potential marketisation that could deepen inequities if not counterbalanced by public safeguards. From a global perspective, NEP 2020 may reshape student mobility patterns, stimulate inbound institutional partnerships, and contribute empirical lessons to comparative education on how very large, multilingual systems attempt modernisation at scale. The review concludes with targeted policy recommendations: phased, evidence-based rollout with pilots; major investment in teacher capacity and digital infrastructure coupled with equity protections; strengthened, transparent regulatory and accreditation mechanisms for internationalisation; and robust monitoring systems to track learning, employability, and inclusion outcomes. The review provides comparative lessons on behalf of other developing countries going through large-scale education reform.