Sweeping policy pushes, AI-backed transformation of education, and debate over student well-being against a backdrop of suicides among them marked the education sector over the year. Five years after the adoption of the National Education Policy (NEP), the Centre moved to translate longstanding proposals into law, betted on AI to boost learning, and confronted enduring challenges around examinations and student mental health. The latest development was the progress on the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, envisioned to overhaul governance of tertiary education by replacing multiple regulators with a unified authority. After years of consultation and debate, the Union Cabinet cleared the bill rechristened the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan (VBSA) Bill, 2025 setting the stage for its introduction in Parliament during the winter session. The legislation seeks to subsume the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and ..