The K. Kasturirangan Committee is a concept referring to the Committee for Draft National Education Policy, a high-level body constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in June 2017. Chaired by former ISRO chief Dr. K. Kasturirangan, the committee was created to propose a new education policy to address challenges of access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability in the existing system. The committee submitted its report on May 31, 2019, which served as the foundation for the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The report's mechanism involves comprehensive reforms across all levels of education. Key provisions include restructuring the school education curriculum into a 5-3-3-4 design (Foundational, Preparatory, Middle, and Secondary stages) to replace the previous 10+2 structure. In higher education, the committee proposed increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to 50% by 2035 and recommended setting up a single regulatory body, the National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA), to replace multiple existing regulators.
The committee's work directly connects to the NEP 2020, which replaced the previous education policy that had been in place for 36 years. The policy also relates to the Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), by recommending the expansion of its scope to include early childhood care and education. The NEP 2020, based on this report, has recently replaced the previous policy, with its core principles, such as the 5-3-3-4 structure and the focus on multidisciplinary education, remaining the central tenets of the current educational framework.
Note: Dr. K. Kasturirangan also chaired the High-Level Working Group (HLWG) on the Western Ghats in 2012, which recommended classifying 37% of the region as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) to balance conservation with development, connecting to the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.