Assam is poised to witness transformative changes in the education sector next year with the State government deciding to start implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) with effect from April 1, 2022. The structural reforms must be backed by the prioritization of the infrastructure of educational institutions if the desired goal of fully implementing the policy by 2023 is to be achieved. Mapping the infrastructural gaps in the education sector in the state is essential to fast track the desired reforms. The National Family Health Survey- Round 5 provides a reality check for education planners. Data from NGHS-5 shows that there is a clear mismatch between literacy rates and years of schooling in the state. Over 92% of men and 87% of women in the age group of 15-49 years in the state are literate which present an encouraging picture on access to primary education. The fact that only 53% of men and 49% of women in this age group are with 10 or more years of schooling says a lot about the status of the school and higher education in the state. The picture in some districts is quite depressing and lack of educational institutions within an accessible distance, poor infrastructure and lack of adequate teachers are the primary reasons behind high dropout rates in backward areas. Access and equity were the key focus of previous education policies but such ground realities of the low educational level of a large section of the population is a reminder for the educational planners not to lose sight of these two pillars while implementing the NEP. Structural reforms in school and higher education have become long overdue to initiate changes in the teaching-learning process, evaluation process towards achieving the key objective of NEP of making education knowledge-based instead of the present system of marks-based. The merger of elementary and secondary education departments, the merger of Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) and the Assam State Higher Secondary Education Council (ASHEC), conversion of all high schools into higher secondary schools are some of the key structural reforms initiated by the State Government. Under the NEP, the existing system of colleges running higher secondary classes in colleges or the practice of junior colleges for standards 11 and 12 will have to be abolished which mandates this conversion of high schools into higher secondary schools. While the merger of the departments, SEBA and ASHEC are administrative measure, conversion of high schools into higher secondary schools entail huge expenditures in construction of additional classrooms, setting up science laboratories, smart classroom for digital learning, school libraries, auditorium, toilets, water supplies, electricity provision, playgrounds in the existing educational campuses and construction of new school buildings in areas without adequate high schools. The mere administrative decision of conversion of these high schools without such infrastructure support and recruitment of adequate qualified teachers will either lead to dropout or compel many students of low and middle-income households to shift to private higher secondary schools. The budgetary allocations for the education department for the next financial year will indicate if the State government has prioritised these infrastructure requirements along with structural reforms to ensure access to quality education for low and middle-income households in government schools. The State Government has decided to convert 1,000 schools in the first phase and merge all Lower Primary schools with nearby Middle English Schools. There are about 4,032 government/provincialized schools of which 3376 are high schools and 656 are higher secondary schools and 65 are junior colleges. Junio colleges will have to be scrapped under NEP. However, the delay in conversion of all high schools in the public sector may lead to more commercialization in the education sector as the private sector will exploit the gap in infrastructures government higher secondary schools to woo students in the public sector. The real challenge for the education department is to ensure that aspect of infrastructure support for government schools does not get buried in the administrative exercise of the merger of education departments and boards and reforms in examination and evaluation. Expediting the process of teachers' recruitment has become an urgent necessity if the target date of implementing the NEP is to be met. For reforms in the higher education sector under NEP, the All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20 can be a ready reckoner for the education department for identifying the gaps and drawing up the action plan. The report highlights the fact that compared to the national average of 30 colleges per lakh population Assam has only 15 colleges per lakh population with the average enrolment being 870 per college. More colleges will have to be set up by the government to increase enrolment. Compared to about 4.75 lakh enrolment in the undergraduate level, the enrolment in postgraduate level is only around 10,000 which speaks volumes about the lack of scope for specializations. The state needs a clear road map for implementing the NEP.