The new education policy has been announced by the Government of India. Assuming that it starts getting implemented in phases from 2023, the first student who would have gone through the system in its entirety would graduate (5+3+3+4 +4) in 2042!. Any metamorphosis takes time and constant effort and needs to start as early as possible. The normal refrain is that implementation will only follow the government enactment of some legislations and regulations, followed by public universities that control most colleges issuing new guidelines and regulations. This is far from true, because, there is a lot that faculty members, colleges or other institutions of higher education like autonomous colleges, private and public universities can do without waiting for government to initiate action, because it is now clear what direction the new legislations, regulations etc. will take. This is a policy that we as a nation have adopted.
Training each faculty member and management executive on the NEP is the first crucial step. The new NEP is a paradigm shift on many dimensions and it is critical for all to understand the shift. For example the need for faculty with transferable vocational skills, faculty training and ability to work with industry, pedagogy for students who come after experiencing Learning that is Holistic, Integrated, Enjoyable, and Engaging, and such aspects needs to be understood by every faculty member. The type of input students into higher education is likely to change and faculty needs to understand this. Institutions are expected to create citizens who are well rounded, innovative, critical thinkers and this is a big change from the present day. Institutions should arrange 1. Training sessions for faculty 1. Training session for management members to understand the philosophy of the new education policy in terms of things like learning by doing, emphasis on life and domain skills, pedagogy and man making outcomes.
Any planning whether it is infrastructure, organizational design or training needs to keep in mind the NEP. For example new infrastructure should follow the 5+3+ 3+4+4 pattern for buildings and classrooms and infrastructure should synch with the new pedagogy. Similarly when independent multidisciplinary institutions is the goal, organizational plans need to include for example strong curriculum building, continuous and criterion based evaluation capacities.
Managements of colleges might need to revisit their vision, mission in the light of the NEP. This is independent of any government regulations or legislations. The institution can choose its new goal to be a teaching/research university or a multidisciplinary autonomous college. The shift towards man making education from the rote learning/marks orientation will call for a slew of changes across the institution and and organisation needs to get prepared for this. Greater transparency in academic and financial data will need institutions have a closer look at their own governance systems and build evaluation systems and processes. We can expect stricter enforcement of the need for transparency in the financial aspects like salaries, reserves, interested parties etc. Similarly greater transparency will be called for in evaluation of students at all levels. These need time to digest and build capabilities. For example if there are substantial profits, then strategies are needed to understand how to comply with expected regulations. Institutional Development Plans has been emphasised in the NEP and will become an important evaluation criteria. Whether top down starting with the vision or bottom up staring with the faculty personal development plans, this is an area that needs the urgent attention of managements and faculty alike.
Becoming multidisciplinary needs substantial effort starting with identifying what faculties to add based on research and relevance. From hiring faculty members, curriculum development to building new program offerings can start immediately.
The regulatory, accreditation and ranking criteria and frameworks will undergo a change to meet the expectations of the NEP. Institutions need to reengineer their organizations to meet the likely evaluation criteria for accreditation and ranking. For example the learning outcomes will be more geared towards life and domain skills, thinking skills, and doing skills. Research might become more important or much less based on the choices the institution makes. Infrastructure to support more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, learning which is employment oriented, might mean changes in classroom sizes and infusion of technology in terms of infrastructure. Supporting other HEI will be critical and building linkages with both domestic and international institutions for a real exchange will become required.
Accreditation will lead to graded autonomy. Autonomy will need institutions to be more responsible and build systems and processes for a variety of new functions. With autonomy comes independent branding and this needs to be visualised and built to create a unique position for the institution in the minds of its stakeholders. This calls for a visioning exercise that considers student life cycles, infrastructure to values to stand for and everything else.
Integrating STEM education will be a new ball game for many institutions. This requires the management to evaluate how this will happen in their institutions rather than following what others are doing at a future date and not being able to leverage their strengths. Establishing departments in Languages, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Indology, Art, Dance, Theatre, Education, Mathematics, Statistics, Pure and Applied Sciences, Sociology, Economics, Sports, and other such subjects needed for a multidisciplinary, stimulating Indian education can be done without waiting for anything. In the event there are restriction on offering degrees, these departments can start by offering optional open electives or diplomas. The simplest requirement of the NEP is offering courses and projects in the areas of community engagement and service, environmental education and value-based education. Value-based education should include developing humanistic, ethical, and universal human values of truth (satya), peace (shanti), non-violence (ahimsa), righteous conduct (dharma) and love (prem), citizenship values and also life-skills. These can start as non-credit courses and eventually form part of the curriculum with credits. Similarly emphasis on ‘seva’ opportunities can start immediately as the policy emphasises this as part of holistic education.
In our archaic system of higher education, autonomy to innovate on matters of curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment will come with a whimper, even if it can be a big bang, because the faculty members are not trained to create multi-disciplinary curriculum. Institutions who invest in building this capability, conduct comparative and bench mark studies on curriculum will be able to offer innovative and relevent programs tomorrow.
Another important requirement under the NEP is medical facilities for students including counselling. Institutions can start establishing these facilities quickly as these are dire requirements. Student participation in affairs of the institution is another area where a number of initiatives need to be taken. Sadly, even in 2020 there are autocratic institution heads!
The NEP looks at internationalisation as a two way street. Institutions need to build partnerships with institutions abroad for research, faculty and student exchange, courses abroad for students from India and courses offered to students of foreign institutions. Efforts to accept credits from foreign universities need to start in right earnest. The larger universities must conduct global market research to identify markets where they can set up new campuses outside of India with the support of the Government of India.
Faculty will play a central role in the future. The NEP calls for improved recruitment and selection of faculty and more importantly keeping them motivated with recognition, rewards and incentives. Institutions also need to provide substantial technological support to improve the teaching-learning process in terms of smart classrooms, internet access and teaching tools in general. Faculty in their own interest must retrain for the new era or be ready to rust and fade away.
Another important component of the NEP is about inclusiveness. Institutions need to work towards affirmative action for inclusion and lip service is not good enough. This can come in a range of measures like Mitigate opportunity costs and fees for pursuing higher education; Make admissions processes more inclusive; Make curriculum more inclusive; Increase employability potential of higher education programmes; Develop more degree courses in Indian languages and bilingually; Ensure all buildings and facilities are wheelchair-accessible and disabled-friendly; Develop bridge courses for those students that may come from disadvantaged educational backgrounds; Provide socio-emotional and academic support for all such students through suitable counselling and mentoring programmes.
The NEP has anticipated that
by 2040 all HEI will be multidisciplinary universities or autonomous colleges or inherent part of a university.
Increase GER in HEI to 50% by 2030
By 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education
The government will do its work at its pace and may be off the deadline by a few years, however, for institutions and faculty, the changes are going to help create a better system and so implementation of what is possible ( and as you can see a lot is possible) should start immediately. HEI in India have the opportunity of overhauling for the better and providing more valuable education, waiting for regulations from the government or potential strictures for non-compliance should not be the route for colleges, they should lead the government by taking as much action as they can.
