By Faiza Mirza, COO, WACE India
When India introduced the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, it challenged long-standing assumptions about what learning should look like, how students should be evaluated, and the evolving role of teachers.
International curriculums are increasingly being examined as complementary frameworks which already operationalise many of NEP’s priorities. The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) provides practical insights into how flexibility, competency-based assessment, teacher empowerment, and holistic learning can operate cohesively within classroom practice.
As Syed Sultan Ahmed, Chairperson, The Association of International Schools of India (TAISI) recently noted: “International curricula don’t replace Indian education; they amplify it. What NEP 2020 envisions - flexibility, competency-based learning, teacher empowerment, and holistic development - is already being lived daily in many international schools across India.”
Here are five ways international curriculums align closely with the spirit and direction of NEP 2020:
1. International Recognition with Local Relevance
A central principle of NEP 2020 is achieving global standards without losing local grounding. The policy calls for educational systems which prepare learners for a connected world while remaining responsive to India’s cultural and contextual needs.
International curriculums like WACE offer globally recognised qualifications while allowing schools the flexibility to adapt subject choices, pedagogy, and contextual examples to suit Indian learning environments.
2. Teacher Empowerment via Continuous Professional Development
NEP 2020 places teachers at the core of meaningful reform. emphasising autonomy, structured professional development, and the need to move from content delivery to facilitation of learning.
Under WACE, educators undergo 150+ hours of structured professional development, comprising in-person training, curriculum mentoring, classroom resources, and ongoing instructional support.
During a training session, a teacher told me, “For the first time, I feel I’m assessing thinking, not just answers.”
3. Competency Over Content — A Key Transition
One of the most transformative aspects of NEP 2020 is its pivot from content-heavy instruction to competency-led learning focused on critical thinking, problem-solving, and conceptual understanding.
The learning outcomes focus on analysis, reasoning, communication, and real-world application. Students are guided to make interdisciplinary connections and demonstrate understanding through meaningful tasks rather than memorisation.
This approach directly supports NEP’s objective of preparing learners for higher education, employability, and lifelong learning — not just examinations.
4. Holistic Development
NEP 2020 argues for an expanded definition of learning — one that comprises emotional, social, ethical, and cognitive development. International curriculums embed holistic development through flexible pathways, student choice, reflective learning, and co-curricular integration. Frameworks such as WACE encourage students to build resilience, explore interests, and take ownership of their learning journey.
5. Evaluation That Rewards Learning
Assessment reform is one of NEP 2020’s strongest calls to action advocating for continuous, transparent, and formative evaluation. International curriculums such as WACE adopt a balanced assessment model combining school-based assessments with external moderation.
Such structures reflect NEP’s push for reducing exam anxiety, improving feedback mechanisms, and making assessment a meaningful part of the learning cycle.
From Policy Intent to Classroom Reality
NEP 2020 gave India a visionary blueprint. The challenge now is execution.
It acts as a bridge — showing schools what competency-based learning, teacher empowerment, and fair assessment look like in practice and at scale.
As I often tell school leaders: “NEP is not asking us to reinvent education. It’s asking us to reimagine it — and global frameworks can help accelerate that journey.”
Faiza Mirza is the Chief Operating Officer at WACE India and focuses on driving collaboration across government bodies, academic boards, and institutional leadership to embed concept-based, inquiry-driven, and hands-on learning models that redefine educational standards at scale.