The Union Education Ministry (MoE) is a ministry of the Government of India responsible for formulating and implementing the National Policy on Education. India has had a Ministry of Education since August 15, 1947, but its name was changed to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on September 26, 1985, by the Rajiv Gandhi government. This change was made to reflect a broader focus on human resource development, literacy, and skill enhancement.
The MHRD was officially renamed back to the Ministry of Education by a gazette notification on August 14, 2020, following the Union Cabinet's approval on July 29, 2020. This reversion was a key recommendation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which replaced the National Policy on Education, 1986. The change was intended to more clearly define the Ministry's work and focus on education.
The Ministry works through two main branches: the Department of School Education and Literacy and the Department of Higher Education. Its core mechanism involves planned development, expanding access, and improving the quality of educational institutions, with a special focus on disadvantaged groups. The Department of Higher Education connects to key regulatory bodies like the University Grants Commission (UGC), whose advice it uses to grant "deemed university" status under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. The Ministry also oversees premier institutions such as the IITs and IIMs, and is tasked with ensuring the NEP 2020 is implemented in letter and spirit.