UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The next chapter for Education Ministry

Q1. For approximately how many years did Dharmendra Pradhan head the Union Ministry of Education before the Ministry was assigned to Pralhad Joshi in July 2026?

  • A. Three years
  • B. Four years
  • C. Five years
  • D. Seven years

Q2. In July 2026, the resignation of the Union Education Minister was accepted and the Ministry of Education was assigned as additional charge to another serving Union Minister. This assignment of the portfolio was formally made by which one of the following authorities?

  • A. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister
  • B. The Cabinet Secretariat, acting under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules
  • C. The Union Council of Ministers, by a resolution recorded in its minutes
  • D. The President of India, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister

Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the National Education Policy, 2020 with the policy framework it superseded: 1. NEP 2020 replaced the National Policy on Education, 1986, which had been in force for over three decades. 2. NEP 2020 replaces the 10+2 curricular and pedagogical arrangement of schooling with a 5+3+3+4 design. 3. NEP 2020 lowers the higher-education Gross Enrolment Ratio target to 26.3 per cent, to be attained by 2035, from the 50 per cent target of the earlier policy. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. NEP 2020 replaced the National Policy on Education, 1986, which had been in force for over three decades.
  2. NEP 2020 replaces the 10+2 curricular and pedagogical arrangement of schooling with a 5+3+3+4 design.
  3. NEP 2020 lowers the higher-education Gross Enrolment Ratio target to 26.3 per cent, to be attained by 2035, from the 50 per cent target of the earlier policy.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q4. NEP 2020 proposed a single umbrella body for higher education operating through four independent verticals. The vertical entrusted with the disbursal of finances to higher educational institutions was to be which one of the following?

  • A. The Higher Education Grants Council
  • B. The National Higher Education Regulatory Council
  • C. The National Accreditation Council
  • D. The General Education Council

Q5. With reference to the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which one of the following statements about the head of the proposed apex Adhishthan is correct?

  • A. The Chairperson is the Union Education Minister ex officio, with the Secretary, Higher Education as the Vice-Chairperson of the Adhishthan
  • B. The Chairperson must be a serving academic with at least ten years of experience as a professor and demits office on attaining seventy years of age
  • C. The Chairperson is a person of eminence appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of the central government and holds office in an honorary capacity
  • D. The Chairperson is selected by a search-cum-selection committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary from among the Presidents of the three Councils

Q6. Consider the following statements regarding the regulators sought to be superseded by the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025: 1. The University Grants Commission, functioning under an Act of 1956, both maintains standards in universities and colleges and disburses grants to them. 2. Medical and legal education, presently regulated under the All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987, will pass to the new Adhishthan once that Act is repealed. 3. The All India Council for Technical Education, functioning under an Act of 1987, regulates technical education including engineering, management and architecture. 4. The National Council for Teacher Education was constituted as a body corporate under an Act of 1993 to oversee teacher education. Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. The University Grants Commission, functioning under an Act of 1956, both maintains standards in universities and colleges and disburses grants to them.
  2. Medical and legal education, presently regulated under the All India Council for Technical Education Act, 1987, will pass to the new Adhishthan once that Act is repealed.
  3. The All India Council for Technical Education, functioning under an Act of 1987, regulates technical education including engineering, management and architecture.
  4. The National Council for Teacher Education was constituted as a body corporate under an Act of 1993 to oversee teacher education.
  • A. 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3
  • C. 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q7. Which one of the following statements about the statutory basis and powers of India's higher-education regulators is correct?

  • A. The All India Council for Technical Education, created by an Act of 1987, is the sole statutory authority for every stream of professional education in the country
  • B. The University Grants Commission, created by an Act of 1956, is empowered to disburse grants to universities and colleges besides maintaining standards
  • C. The National Council for Teacher Education, created by an Act of 1993, exercises exclusive control over all courses of study taught in universities in the country
  • D. The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan, once established, will inherit in full the grant-disbursing functions of every regulator whose Act it repeals

Q8. The curricular and pedagogical structure adopted by NEP 2020, and elaborated in the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, divides the whole of schooling into how many stages?

  • A. Four stages, replacing the earlier 10+2 arrangement of schooling
  • B. Three stages, all of which are of exactly equal duration in years
  • C. Five stages, covering the entire span of schooling within formal schools only
  • D. Two stages, corresponding precisely to the earlier 10+2 arrangement

Q9. With reference to the PM SHRI Schools scheme, consider the following: 1. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2022 for strengthening more than 14,500 existing schools. 2. Schools managed by the Central Government, State/UT Governments or local self-government bodies, and possessing a UDISE+ code, are eligible for selection. 3. States and Union Territories are required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding committing themselves to implementing NEP 2020 before their schools can be selected. 4. The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship with a total project cost of Rs 27,360 crore. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2022 for strengthening more than 14,500 existing schools.
  2. Schools managed by the Central Government, State/UT Governments or local self-government bodies, and possessing a UDISE+ code, are eligible for selection.
  3. States and Union Territories are required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding committing themselves to implementing NEP 2020 before their schools can be selected.
  4. The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship with a total project cost of Rs 27,360 crore.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q10. Education being a subject on which both the Union and the States legislate, NEP 2020 states that the Centre and the States will work together to raise public investment in the education sector to what proportion of GDP at the earliest?

  • A. 3 per cent
  • B. 4.5 per cent
  • C. 6 per cent
  • D. 8 per cent

Q11. Consider the following statements regarding the portfolios held by Pralhad Joshi at the time he assumed charge of the Union Ministry of Education in July 2026: 1. He holds charge of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. 2. He holds charge of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. 3. He has been the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs continuously and without interruption ever since 2019, that portfolio having never been held by anyone else in the interim. 4. Education was given to him as an additional charge, over and above the portfolios he already held. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. He holds charge of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
  2. He holds charge of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
  3. He has been the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs continuously and without interruption ever since 2019, that portfolio having never been held by anyone else in the interim.
  4. Education was given to him as an additional charge, over and above the portfolios he already held.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4