NEP, 2020 - Recorded Historic Changes in Education System

By Mr. Sanjay Mehta - Partner & Ms. Lakshmi Gnana Tejaswi - Associate, Surana & Surana International Attorneys

INTRODUCTION:

5. Education is fundamental for achieving full human potential, developing an equitable and just society, and promoting national development.  Indeed, with the quickly changing employment landscape and global ecosystem, it is becoming increasingly critical that children not only learn but also learn how to learn.  Education thus must move towards less content, and more learning about how to think critically and solve problems, how to be creative and multidisciplinary, and how to innovate, adapt and absorb new material in novel and changing fields.  Pedagogy must evolve to make education more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, and, of course, enjoyable.  The gap between the current state of learning outcomes and what is required must be bridged through undertaking major reforms that bring the highest quality, equity, and integrity into the system, from early childhood care and education through higher education.

    

   NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY, 2020 (“NEP 2020”):

   This is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the thirty-four-year-old National Policy on Education, 1986.  Built on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability, this policy is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making both school and college education more holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary, suited to 21st century needs and aimed at bringing out the unique capabilities of each student.

    

   HIGHLIGHTS OF NEP 2020:

   1. The NEP paves the way for a single overarching regulator for higher education, which will replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).  The single regulator as per nep 2020 HECI stand for the Higher Education Commission of India , will have four independent verticals to carry out the functions of regulation, funding, accreditation and setting standards for learning outcomes (as detailed below under- Transforming the Regulatory System).

   2. The Ministry of Education is preparing to take to cabinet a Bill to set up the HECI (heci in nep 2020)which will come with a clause to allow foreign varsities into India.  Foreign universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance and content norms on par with other autonomous education institutions in India.

   3. It is specifically affirmed as a part of key areas of focus in the NEP 2020(heci in nep 2020) that, in addition to high-quality offerings in Indian languages and English, foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level, for students to learn about the cultures of the world and to enrich their global knowledge and mobility according to their own interests and aspirations.

   4. It is acknowledged under the holistic and multidisciplinary education under Higher Education in the NEP 2020 (heci nep 2020) that imaginative and flexible curricular structures will enable creative combinations of disciplines for study, and would offer multiple entries and exit points, thus, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning.  Graduate-level, masters and doctoral education in large multidisciplinary universities, while providing rigorous research-based specialization, would also provide opportunities for multidisciplinary work, including in academia, government, and industry.

   5. It is stated within the ambit of optimal learning environments and support for students under Higher Education in the NEP 2020 (heci in nep 2020) as follows:

   1. An International Students Office at each Higher Education Institutions (HEI) hosting foreign students will be set up to coordinate all matters relating to welcoming and supporting students arriving from abroad.

   2. Research/teaching collaborations and faculty/student exchanges with high-quality foreign institutions will be facilitated, and relevant mutually beneficial MOUs with foreign countries will be signed.

   3. High performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries, and similarly, selected universities e.g., those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.

   4. A legislative framework facilitating such entry will be put in place, and such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.

   5. Furthermore, research collaboration and student exchanges between Indian institutions and global institutions will be promoted through special efforts.  Credits acquired in foreign universities will be permitted, where appropriate as per the requirements of each HEI, to be counted for the award of a degree.

   IMPACT OF NEP, 2020

   1.            National Research Foundation: Research and innovation is central to growing and sustaining a large and vibrant society and economy.  The National Research Foundation (NRF) will catalyze and expand research and innovation in the country.  The NRF will seed, grow, and facilitate research at academic institutions and recognize outstanding research.

   2.            Professional Education: 

   1.    Professional education will be an integral part of the overall higher education system.  Preparation of professionals must involves education in the ethic and importance of public purpose, an education in the discipline, and an education for practice.  It must centrally involve critical and interdisciplinary thinking, discussion, debate, research, and innovation.  This is best achieved by making institutions offering professional education a part of the larger ecosystem of higher education, instead of remaining as isolated entities. (heci in nep 2020)

   2.    Stand-alone agricultural universities, legal universities, health science universities, technical universities, and stand-alone institutions in other fields, shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions offering holistic and multidisciplinary education.

   3.            Empowered Governance: Each HEI will be governed by an Independent Board having academic and administrative autonomy and this will ensure a clear chain of responsibility and accountability within.

   4.            Transforming the Regulatory System: 

   1.    The first vertical of HECI (as per nep 2020 HECI stand for the Higher Education Commission of India)  will be the National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC).  It will function as the common, single point regulator for the higher education sector including teacher education (excluding medical and legal education), thus eliminating the duplication and disjunction of regulatory efforts by the multiple regulatory agencies that exist at the current time.

   2.    The second vertical of HECI (as per nep 2020 HECI stand for the Higher Education Commission of India) will, therefore, be a ‘meta-accrediting body’, called the National Accreditation Council (NAC).  Accreditation of institutions will be based primarily on basic norms, public self-disclosure, good governance, and outcomes, and it will be carried out by an independent ecosystem of accrediting institutions supervised and overseen by NAC.

   3.    The third vertical of HECI (as per nep 2020 HECI stand for the Higher Education Commission of India) will be the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), which will carry out funding and financing of higher education based on transparent criteria, including the Institutional Development Plans prepared by the institutions and the progress made on their implementation.  HEGC will be entrusted with the disbursement of scholarships and developmental funds for launching new focus areas and expanding quality programme offerings at HEIs across disciplines and fields.

   4.    The fourth vertical of HECI (as per nep 2020 HECI stand for the Higher Education Commission of India) will be the General Education Council (GEC), which will frame expected learning outcomes for higher education programmes, also referred to as ‘graduate attributes’.

   5.    The current challenge is that the mechanistic and disempowering nature of the regulatory system has been rife with very basic problems, such as heavy concentrations of power within a few bodies, conflicts of interest among these bodies, and a resulting lack of accountability.  This is fatal for academic growth.

   6.    To address the above-mentioned issues, the regulatory system of higher education will ensure that the distinct functions of regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting will be performed by distinct, independent, and empowered bodies.  This is considered essential to create checks-and-balances in the system, minimize conflicts of interest, and eliminate concentrations of power.  To ensure that the four institutional structures carrying out these four essential functions work independently yet at the same time work in synergy towards common goals, these four structures will be set up as four independent verticals within one umbrella institution, the HECI.

   5.            Technology in Education: The National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to improve learning, assessment, planning and administration, and so on, both for school and higher education.  The aim of NETF will be to facilitate decision making on the induction, deployment, and use of technology, by providing to the leadership of educational institutions, State and Central governments and other stakeholders the latest knowledge and research as well as the opportunity to consult and share best practices with each other.

   6.            Vocational Education: This policy aims to overcome the social status hierarchy associated with vocational education and requires the integration of vocational education programmes into mainstream education in all educational institutions in a phased manner.  Vocational education will be an integral part of the school and higher education.

   7.            Promotion of Indian Languages: India will also urgently expand its translation and interpretation efforts in order to make high-quality learning materials and other important written and spoken material available to the public in various Indian and foreign languages.  For this, an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) will be established.  Such an institute would provide a truly important service for the country, as well as employ numerous multilingual language and subject experts, and experts in translation and interpretation, which will help to promote all Indian languages.  Further, it is also proposed that a new institution for Languages be established; National Institute (or Institutes) for Pali, Persian and Prakrit should also be set up within a university campus.

   8.            Internationalization of education will be facilitated through, institutional collaborations as well as student and faculty mobility.  All these steps will further boost multidisciplinary education which is more aligned with the global education system.