NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020: TRANSFORMING LOFTY IDEALS INTO REALITY
1. Approaching the Theme
The National Education Policy 2020 (hereinafter referred to as NEP 2020) makes a bold attempt to provide a framework to meet the needs of Indian education in a challenging 21st century. On the fact of it the policy framework provides the right ambience for ushering in a process of learning geared to equipping young learners with the skill sets that would be required in the next quarter century. Critical to the process would be the intentions and intensity with which this laudable policy initiative would be implemented. This country has been witness to the best of intentions being diluted on account of the `exigencies of implementation`. One hopes that NEP 2020 does not fall a victim of this phenomenon. This paper seeks to outline the philosophical underpinnings and goals of NEP 2020 and the steps that need to be taken to ensure its effective and honest implementation especially in the domain of Higher Education.
The `Navasutras` (नवा सूत्रा)
It may be useful to outline the `Navasutras` (नवा सूत्रा) that appear to be the fundamental objectives of NEP 2020. These nine elements underscore the philosophical persuasions that have clearly guided the framing of the new policy. Each merits a brief elaboration.
2.1 Inclusive
The NEP focuses on inclusiveness in its multi-track dimensions. It showcases inclusiveness in terms of the range of learners who seek to access education. It celebrates inclusiveness from the perspective of the range of disciplines and courses it brings into the gamut of education. It also places a premium on inclusiveness from the vantage position of the aspirations of different stake holders in education.
2.2 Equitable
The policy makes an unequivocal commitment to equity. It recognizes `justice and fairness` as the cornerstone of the philosophy of education. By seeking to allow access to all learners irrespective of location, economic and social status, NEP 2020 is in that sense a document of `socio-economic transformation`. If conscientiously implemented, this policy could be the platform to usher in a `culture of justice and equality`.
2.3 Quality
Even as it focuses on inclusiveness and equity, the policy makes quality education a non-negotiable goal. With a need to balance the `reality of quantity` with the `need for quality`, NEP 2020 treads a path that seek to enhance quality standards in all aspects of the education system. It recognizes that quality is not merely a by-product of facilities and infrastructure but is a corollary to the `academic and intellectual ambience` that we create in an educational environment.
2.4 Sensitivity
NEP 2020 is as a document, sensitive to the aspirations of the authentic diversity that constitutes our nation. The document is sensitive to the needs of learners, the self-esteem of facilitators, the aspirations of parents and the expectations of the wider society at large. It is sensitive to the diverse pathways to learning and the methodologies that need to be followed to make the process of knowledge transaction realistic and meaningful’
2.5 Inter-disciplinarity
The USP of NEP 2020 is the strong endorsement of the inter-disciplinarity of learning in this 21st century. For too long have been restricted learning to the `narrow domestic worlds ` of our individual disciplines and shackled learning to these specific spaces. NEP 2020 seeks to break these shackles and widen the horizons of learning by encouraging learners to foray into newer areas of interest and curiosity.
2.6 Synergy
NEP 2020 recognizes the need to bring together different stakeholders involved in the process of education. With this goal in mind, it seeks to synergize efforts by those involved in the process of education. This hopes to ensure that the pooling together of infrastructure and human intellectual resources would lead to its most optimum use for the benefit of the maximum numbers.
2.7 Rootedness
The most striking feature of NEP 2020 is its being rooted in Indian reality. It takes into account the ground reality of Indian social structures and addresses the challenges of education from this perspective. It also seeks to borrow best practices from other countries by taking into account its applicability in the Indian context. It further seeks to leverage on the rich resources that are part of the Indian learning tradition and aims at incorporating the same in the contemporary context.
2.8 Flexibility
The mantra of NEP 2020 is the space it provides for flexibility. Flexibility is viewed from multiple prisms. The framework for learning provides for adaptability in terms of courses, time frames and learning modes. It accommodates the needs and aspirations of diverse learners and allows for learning keeping in mind the differential pace that learners may find suitable for themselves.
2.9: Life Long Learning
NEP 2020 views the education system as an investment for the future and seeks to develop in the learner the skill set that allows them to be learners for life. The new policy focuses on both skills and learning as part of the education process which facilitates the process of learning not limited by time and space.
The nava sutras (नवा सूत्रा) as outlined above are at the core of NEP 2020. They capture the objectives from which the policy seeks to design a scheme of education for a fast transforming 21st century India.
3.Implementing NEP 2020
As mentioned earlier, the key to the success of NEP 2020 is the diligence with which it is implemented. While focusing on higher education, this paper looks at six key areas of implementation.
3.1 Three-fold classification of Institutions
What is heartening in NEP 2020 is that seeks to do away with the present classification of Universities into Private/ Public, Central/State and the like is sought to be done away with and a new three-fold classification has been suggested: Research Intensive Universities, Teaching Intensive Universities and Autonomous Colleges. This is a laudable classification with the first category of Universities being research intensive with a focus on teaching and the second category being teaching intensive with some focus on research. Over time, the policy envisages all Colleges moving towards becoming Autonomous institutions. Policy implementers would need to be cautious of the fact that the new classification should not unwittingly result in creating a new hierarchy within the higher educational framework. If the new classification leads to a new hierarchy for funding and prioritizing it would once again defeat the very purpose of simplifying the differentiation between institutions.
3.2 `Light but Tight`
A key phrase in NEP 2020 is that regulations will be `light but tight`. This again is a commendable goal to ensure. For long institutions and policy makers have attempted to ensure the right balance between `autonomy and accountability`. It is hoped that while implementing this principle, the government would be able to identify the right framework for `how tight` and `where light`. If tightness is achieved in autonomy and lightness is achieved in accountability it would defeat the very purpose of the scheme.
3.3 Representative Character of the Implementation Strategy
In the discussions on NEP 2020, a key factor has been the factor that the Indian Constitution places education in the concurrent list. The logic of the concurrent list was that any step taken by the Union government on a subject in this list would involve consultation with the state governments. Many would believe that this has not happened to the desired extent. While the NEP Committee consisting of some of the best minds in the country and went through a detailed process of public consultation, it would have been better if the Committee additionally had representatives from the state governments. Policy makers make an important distinction between consultation and participation. What was required was participation by the representatives of states and not a mere consultation with them. Now as the Task Force for implementing NEP 2020 is being set up the hope is that there would be a broader base of participation involving different stake holders.
3.4 Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses
It is heartening to note that NEP 2020 provides for a tremendous flexibility in undergraduate and post graduate courses both in terms of approach, content and tenure. A novel feature suggested is the four year Undergraduate course with multiple opportunities for exit and reentry. At the end of year one, a student can exit with a Certificate, at the end of year two they could get a Diploma and year three completion would give them a Degree and the fourth year being successfully completed would secure for them an Honours Degree. It allows a student a credit bank to accumulate credits over time. This is very much similar to the scheme that is practiced in the West. Yet one must notice a visible cultural difference. In the west, when a youth enters college, he/she more often than not is no longer dependent on the parents and they pay for their education or take a bank loan for the same. This requires multiple exits to go back to work, save money and return to the course. In India, when viewed from a cultural perspective, families prioritize investing on education. Most parents, if the economic conditions, permit would want their children to complete their education (and would fund the same) and then seek a job. In such a situation, one needs to examine the practical validity of multiple entries and exit in the Indian socio-cultural context.
NEP 2020 wishes to make post graduate education research centric. Today, most post graduate programmes have a very limited/ or no exposure to research. It would now take some time to build this research culture in post graduate education. The M.Phil courses, which now stand abolished provided an opportunity as a bridge course towards research. It may have been a better idea to abolish the M.Phil once the Masters Programmes had become fully research oriented.
3.5 Primacy to Research
NEP 2020 pays a laudable emphasis on research in higher education and as an important focus of Universities. The policy envisages the creation of a National Research Foundation (NRF) to fund research. This is a laudable step and has been successful in the western world. The policy outlines a three-fold role for the NRF. Besides funding research the NRF would liaison with funding agencies and recognize and encourage researchers. It is also hoped that the NRF would not be biased towards Engineering, Technology and Science, as has happened in the past but also place Social Sciences and Management on an equal footing.
3.6 New Bodies in the Higher Education Framework
NEP 2020 envisages a changed institutional architecture for higher education. It talks of a Higher Education Council of India (HECI) with four verticals under it: National Higher Education Regulatory Council (HERC), National Accreditation Council (NAC), Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) and General Education Council (GEC). The roles of each of these bodies have also been clearly delineated as have been their functions and responsibilities. Implementing the above would involve dismantling existing bodies (including the UGC) many of whom have a legal status. Past experience of policy making in India has found that it is extremely difficult to disturb the status quo. Institutions develop vested interests and have powerful lobbies backing them. It would require tremendous political support and good will to disrupt the existing system and create a new one. The biggest danger lies in mere changing the name of existing bodies (and also its office bearers) and replacing them with new bodies (and the same office bearers with their new designations)! This would be like old wine in a new bottle with the cork too remaining unchanged! This one step, could undo all the good that the NEP 2020 aims to implement.
4. Conclusion
While NEP 2020 has the potential to bring fundamental and much needed changes in the higher education scenario in India, its success would lie in its implementation. It is disappointing that the draft NEP policy did not outline a time bound implementation mechanism and an action plan for the same. This was vitally necessary to ensure that the spirit of the NEP 2020 was actually translated into reality. There I many a `slip between the cup and the lip` and it is hoped that the good intentions of the NEP are not derailed by way of tardy and lop-sided implementation.
SEE NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020: Transforming Lofty Ideals Into Reality - MyNep