The disconnect between what we learn in schools and colleges, and what happens in the real world, is horribly wide. Does the National Education Policy (NEP), which has been long due, fix this? Before we go into this, we need to understand what the goal of education is, and why outcomes are more important than inputs. While the NEP is a rambling and repetitive document, tedious in extreme, it must be appreciated for covering the entire spectrum of education in India, and also, must be commended for being vocal against pestilential issues like mediocrity and corruption. In this first part of a series on the NEP, I cover two broad aspects: the Indian heritage and the RTE Act.