NEP-2020: Many hits and a few misses for higher education

Approximately 43,000 degree colleges in the country, including nearly 4,000 in Karnataka, play a pivotal role in providing higher education (albeit not of high quality in a large number of them) to our youth in the age group of 18-23 years. In fact, of the total enrolment of about 38 million, more than 75 per cent are pursuing undergraduate courses in degree colleges.

Graduation is considered to be a turning point in one’s life and career as it acts like a springboard for landing on many a vocations. It is because of this omni-potentiality, a large number of universities/colleges in developed countries offer a well-structured, capability-infused four-year first-degree programmes, as a result of which a good proportion of graduates are made employable in different fields and only a small percentage opt for postgraduate and doctorate degrees.

In other words, employment prospects find precedence over securing multiple degrees – an approach in contrast to our scenario. National Education Policy-2020 (NEP -2020, herein referred to as the Policy) is envisaged to be a game changer for Indian education. The government of Karnataka announced its introduction in August 2021 at the undergraduate level and claimed credit for being the first to do so in the country. An analysis of certain merits and deficiencies of the new initiative is provided in this article.

Positive features

By all accounts, the Policy is a fine roadmap of contemporary challenges and a good vision document of future strategies. It was the culmination of more than five years of extensive debate and deliberations.

Scope for earning dual degrees simultaneously from two recognised institutions. There is provision for multiple exit (with either one-year certificate or two-year diploma) and entry in a degree programme. Facilitation of credit deposit in credit banks and easy credit transfer and provision for joint certification and twinning of programmes are available. Other features are greater cooperation between public and private institutions in recognising the credits and encouragement to inter- and intra-university mobilities.

Emphasis on large-scale distance education to promote choice-based online learning from among hundreds of courses and the opportunity to earn credits.

All fees to be levied are subject to regulation by an authority.

The common entrance examination for admission to university courses offers candidates the freedom of choice of a subject as well as the university.

Entry of foreign universities opens up access to cutting edge courses. This step enhances inter-institutional competition within the country to sustain quality. A team of representatives of 22 UK universities recently visited the country including Bengaluru to explore the possibilities of collaborative programs under NEP.

Flexible and multidisciplinary approach to learning.

Support to vocational education and introduction of special programmes for socially and educationally backward students.

The four-year honours degree programme with research orientation provides scope for one-year post-graduation and direct entry to PhD courses.

A five-year integrated programme leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Easy migration to other institutions because of transfer of credits.

End course with a certificate after the first year and with a diploma after second year presumably will increase employment opportunities.

International recognition to four-year first-degree programmes in terms of equivalence in duration.

Access to four-year BEd programme in a college itself to those aspiring to be school teachers.

Availability of more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary courses with holistic approach to learning.

Apprehensions

There is a widespread feeling in academic circles that the decision to go ahead with the implementation at the undergraduate level was too early, as the time available for transition from the existing system to the new one was very short. In fact, many colleges were not at all prepared for the rapid shift.

The syllabus for the first semester was vast and the students, having been out of gear due to the pandemic for almost two years, found it difficult to assimilate.

The stakeholders felt that how fast a policy is introduced is less important than how well it is implemented.

The multiple entry-exit system proposed has not been properly visualised as much as the nature of skill induction for the certificate and diploma has not been structured and defined. The envisaged off campus internship of 8-10 weeks at the end of second semester (for certificate) and on completion of fourth semester (for diploma) is difficult to operationalise by colleges located in rural areas.

Monetary constraints are a major stumbling block. NEP-20 has suggested an expenditure of 6% of the GDP but the stark reality is that it was not possible in the 2022-23 budget to reach even 4%. The pandemic has turned the financial status from bad to worse.

A significant number of our colleges languish due to lack of qualified and competent faculty and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Without these basic requirements, neither admission could be increased nor inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary courses could be introduced.

The task of preparing the curriculum in its entirety (not as piecemeal) has to be decentralised and autonomous colleges must be given full freedom to do this as was the practice earlier.

Today’s knowledge systems warrant today’s tools and technologies for their delivery. Unless and until our degree colleges are armed with the facilities needed for higher learning, there will be a large mismatch between planning and execution, as has happened in the past. To tide over the severe resource crunch, a large number of experts have expressed the need to adopt a public-private-participation model (PPP model) on a trial basis for attaining and retaining quality resources. A successful translation of the Policy demands committed support of both the central and state governments.

As in the case of NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) accreditation and NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) evaluation, those colleges that are not fully prepared should be allowed a couple of years to introduce the new scheme effectively.

(The author is former vice chancellor, University of Mysore)