'NEP should be implemented uniformly across country': Former UGC chairman

Kolkata: Former University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Professor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar on Friday said the National Education Policy (NEP) should ideally be implemented uniformly across the country.

Speaking to reporters during the Vikas 2025 programme at Visva-Bharati University, Kumar said even if some states rename it as ‘State Education Policy’, the recommendations and features of NEP should be implemented in its entirety nationwide.

Kumar, who is regarded as one of the architects of the NEP, said, "The policy was designed to ensure how students in our country should be educated and how they should build their futures. India is now a rapidly growing economy, creating new job opportunities — which means the demand for skilled professionals is rising."

"But many colleges and universities are not preparing students for this reality. How will they secure jobs?" he asked.

Kumar said, "NEP promotes multidisciplinary learning, flexibility, and opportunities to study Indian languages, culture, and indigenous knowledge systems. If one state refuses to adopt NEP, its students will fall behind those in states that embrace it. They may even face difficulties when pursuing higher studies in another state. Even if it is christened State Education Policy, it should be implemented as the name does not matter."

Calling for a crackdown on unregulated private universities, he said, "With the coming up of private universities across the country, an issue that has also caught the attention of the Supreme Court, the UGC has begun tightening norms."

Kumar said, "We have made it mandatory for private universities to publicly disclose the number of applications received, admission rules, fee structure and sources of funding on their official portals. The public should have access to this information."

"Once NEP is implemented nationwide, academic standards in both public and private universities will significantly improve," he added.

Though several non-BJP states adopted features of the education policy after initial opposition, NEP still has not been fully implemented everywhere.

Under the supervision of the UGC, the Northeast and Eastern Regional Conference of the 'Vikas 2025' programme was held at Visva-Bharati's International Bangladesh Bhavan.

Participants from universities and colleges in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, and all eight northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura — attended the conference.

Vice-Chancellors, registrars, and principals from universities and colleges of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also attended the conference.

Five hundred participants from 377 universities and several colleges took part in the discussion.