International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Democratic Values, Buddhism and NEP-2020: A Literature Review of Philosophical Convergences and Educational Implications

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 restructures the operational mechanisms of the Indian schools by advocating student-centered, values-based, democratic, and holistic education. These values are very much in line with the main principles of democracy and Buddhism, which are equal, ethical conduct, critical thinking, empathy, and involvement in the decision-making process. Despite their conceptual parallelism, the academic literature of the relationship between democracy and Buddhist philosophy and NEP-2020 remains disjointed and uncoordinated. The current research is based on a systematic review of the literature to critically evaluate how democratic principles and Buddhist principles reflect on the vision, goals, and strategies of NEP 2020. Peer-reviewed journal articles, policy documents, and philosophical texts, as well as educational research conducted between 2000 and 2025, were analyzed using a systematic review methodology. The scholar has used Scopus databases for the words “democracy”, “Buddhism”, “education”, “values”, and “NEP-2020”. The identified studies were screened and analyzed thematically to identify conceptual links, shared educational goals, and implications of pedagogical meaning. The review indicates that democracy, Buddhism, and NEP-2020 have a certain powerful philosophical basis in terms of enhancing inclusivity, learner autonomy, ethical responsibility, dialogue, and holistic human development. The Buddhist values of mindfulness, compassion, non-violence, and rational inquiry are similar to the democratic values of freedom, equality, and participation. These shared values are implemented in NEP-2020 and emphasize experiential learning, critical thinking, multidisciplinary education, social-emotional learning, and citizenship education. The literature, however, also highlights that it is difficult to implement these philosophies in the classroom due to systemic issues, teachers being unprepared, and school cultures that are target-oriented. The research comes to the conclusion that the integration of Buddhist and democratic values in NEP-2020 creates a strong ethical and philosophical foundation of the reform of Indian education. It implies that more integration of the curriculum, teacher training, and grading of students should be carried out to implement these values.