Chronological List of National Commissions and Committees in Indian Education (1845–2025)

Pre-Independence Era (1845–1947)

Year	Commission / Committee / Event	Key Figure / Chairman	Key Recommendations / Significance
1835	Macaulay’s Minute	T.B. Macaulay	Advocated for English education; “Infiltration Theory”.
1847	Thomason College of Civil Engineering	James Thomason	First engineering college in the empire (now IIT Roorkee).
1854	Wood’s Despatch	Charles Wood	“Magna Carta of English Education”; proposed universities, graded schools, and grants-in-aid.
1882	Hunter Commission	W.W. Hunter	Focus on primary and secondary education; suggested mother tongue for primary levels.
1902	Raleigh Commission	Thomas Raleigh	Reviewed universities; led to the restrictive Indian Universities Act, 1904.
1917	Sadler Commission	Michael Sadler	10+2+3 structure; separation of intermediate education from universities; Boards of Secondary Education.
1929	Hartog Committee	Philip Hartog	Highlighted “Wastage and Stagnation” due to rapid expansion; focus on quality over quantity.
1934	Sapru Committee	Tej Bahadur Sapru	Examined unemployment among educated youth (UP).
1937	Abbot-Wood Report	A. Abbot & S.H. Wood	Recommended polytechnics and a hierarchy of vocational institutions.
1937	Wardha Scheme (Nai Talim)	Dr. Zakir Hussain	Basic education through handicrafts; learning by doing; mother tongue instruction.
1944	Sargent Plan	John Sargent	Aimed for universal literacy within 40 years; comprehensive post-war educational development.

Post-Independence Era (1947–2000)

Year	Commission / Committee / Event	Key Figure / Chairman	Key Recommendations / Significance
1948-49	University Education Commission	Dr. S. Radhakrishnan	First commission of independent India; focused on higher education and “Rural Universities”; laid groundwork for UGC.
1952-53	Secondary Education Commission	Dr. A.L. Mudaliar	Diversification of curriculum; introduction of “Multipurpose Schools”.
1958	National Committee on Women’s Education	Durgabai Deshmukh	Prioritized women’s education; established National/State Councils for Women’s Education.
1964-66	Kothari Commission	Dr. D.S. Kothari	“Education and National Development”; 10+2+3 pattern; Common School System; 6% GDP target.
1968	National Policy on Education (NPE)	–	First National Policy based on Kothari Commission; Three Language Formula adopted.
1976	42nd Constitutional Amendment	–	Moved ‘Education’ from State List to Concurrent List.
1986	National Policy on Education (NPE)	–	Operation Blackboard; Navodaya Vidyalayas; Statutory status for NCTE.
1990	Ramamurti Review Committee	Acharya Ramamurti	Reviewed NPE 1986; emphasized “Enlightened and Humane Society”; Common School System.
1992	Janardhana Reddy Committee	N. Janardhana Reddy	Created the Programme of Action (POA) 1992 based on NPE review.
1992-93	Yash Pal Committee	Prof. Yash Pal	Report “Learning Without Burden”; reduce school bag weight and curriculum load.
1992-93	Punnayya Committee	Justice K. Punnayya	UGC committee on funding of Central Universities and internal resource generation.
1993	Gnanam Committee	–	Recommended decentralization and autonomy in university management.

Modern Era (2000–2019)

Year	Commission / Committee / Event	Key Figure / Chairman	Key Recommendations / Significance
2002	86th Constitutional Amendment	–	Inserted Article 21A; Education made a Fundamental Right for ages 6-14.
2005	National Knowledge Commission	Sam Pitroda	Focus on knowledge economy, libraries, e-governance, and expansion of universities (GER).
2006	Lyngdoh Committee	J.M. Lyngdoh	Guidelines for Student Union Elections in universities.
2009	Yash Pal Committee	Prof. Yash Pal	“Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education”; proposed NCHER (super-regulator).
2009	RTE Act	–	Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act passed (Enforced 2010).
2012	Justice Verma Committee	Justice J.S. Verma	Teacher Education reforms; stricter regulation of B.Ed. colleges.
2016	T.S.R. Subramanian Committee	T.S.R. Subramanian	Drafted the “New Education Policy” inputs.
2017-19	Draft NEP Committee	Dr. K. Kasturirangan	Prepared the draft for the National Education Policy 2020.

NEP 2020 and Future Reforms (2020–2025)

Year	Commission / Committee / Event	Key Details / Significance
2020	National Education Policy (NEP)	5+3+3+4 structure; foundational literacy; multidisciplinary education; discontinuation of M.Phil; HECI proposed.
2021	NIPUN Bharat Mission	Target: Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for every child by Grade 3 by 2026-27.
2021	National Steering Committee for NCFs	Chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan to develop 4 National Curriculum Frameworks.
2022	NCF for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS)	First integrated curriculum for ages 3-8 (Anganwadi to Class 2).
2022	PM-SHRI Scheme	Upgradation of 14,500+ schools as exemplar NEP implementation centers.
2022-23	Dr. K. Radhakrishnan Committee	Reforms in Accreditation (NAAC); proposed Binary Accreditation (Accredited/Not Accredited).
2023	National Credit Framework (NCrF)	Integration of academic and vocational credits; enabling mobility between education streams.
2024	PARAKH	National Assessment Centre established under NCERT for standard-setting and holistic assessment.
2024-25	APAAR ID	“One Nation, One Student ID”; automated academic registry for lifelong tracking.
2025	SQAAF Implementation	School Quality Assessment and Assurance Framework mandated for compliance.