NEP: Look before you lay down policy

The Congress government in Karnataka has stated that it will appoint a commission to prepare a new education policy to replace the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which the previous BJP government hurriedly implemented. To be fair to the Congress government, the party had stated in its 2023 election manifesto itself that it would abrogate the NEP if it came to power.

The NEP was drafted by a commission headed by former ISRO chief Kasturirangan. As education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution, the central government should have consulted the state governments and considered their concerns before resolving to implement the NEP. But the Narendra Modi government did not do that. The result: We are witness to a situation where the BJP-ruled states went ahead with the implementation of the NEP while many of the Opposition-ruled states dragged their feet, either totally rejecting it or partially implementing it in a delayed manner.

As regards the Karnataka situation, the higher education minister stated at the beginning itself that the government would consult the stakeholders. He convened a meeting of vice chancellors to elicit their opinions. Still, for reasons best known to themselves, the VCs, both in that meeting and later too, did not submit their views in writing, probably for fear of being branded one way or the other. Recently, at a seminar, the higher education minister formally announced the government's decision to go for its own education policy. The minister and former chairman of the UGC, Dr Sukhdev Thorat, spoke about the elitist and exclusivist character of certain features of the NEP in the field of higher education and underlined the need for correcting them.

Against the above backdrop, let us examine some aspects of the NEP which can be dispensed with when the state government comes up with its higher education policy. Firstly, the feature of awarding certificates at the end of the first year and a diploma at the end of the second year to those students who desire to discontinue their studies may be given up, as a very high percentage of students generally opt for the degree course. Those who are desirous of doing such short-duration programs go to polytechnics and do not seek admission to colleges. But the premium is on acquiring a degree.

Secondly, the NEP itself has stated that the colleges/universities can opt for three or four-year degree programmes with one or two years' PG programme as the case may be. No great academic harm would be done to the students if the state decides to continue with the existing three years’ UG and two years’ PG programmes, provided the course contents at the UG and PG levels would be backed up by emphasis on balancing domain knowledge with requisite skills to make the students job-ready. This is where the Boards of Studies in various disciplines across faculties should have representation for industry experts to draw on their expertise in curriculum preparation. The Boards of Studies alone should frame the curriculum. The practice of associating the Karnataka State Higher Education Council with curriculum formation should be done away with.

Thirdly, the exit and re-entry provision of the NEP can be given up as most students (and their parents) accord priority to get UG and even PG degrees in India. Exit and re-entry idea is typically a Western practice where students, and not parents, themselves finance their education.

Fourthly, the NEP’s decision to scrap the MPhil programme is appropriate as the eligibility for entry into teaching positions all over India is a mandatory pass in national or state-level eligibility tests. Karnataka can abide by it. 

Fifthly, as regards the NEP formula for doing away with the annual affiliation of colleges falling under the jurisdiction of public universities, my suggestion is that colleges that obtain an ‘A’ grade and above from NAAC accreditation be asked to seek reaffiliation in 5-6 years while other higher educational institutions should be made to seek reaffiliation annually by an affiliation committee comprising only subject experts.

Sixthly, the Academic Bank of Credit idea of the NEP, as pointed out by the chief minister in his budget speech, must be continued as it is student-friendly.

Finally, Karnataka's education policy must have a norm that at no point of time should more than 20% of permanent faculty positions be allowed to be vacant in any higher educational institution. Equally important, the state policy should lay stress on periodic capacity-building programmes for teachers to ensure quality in higher education. 

(The writer is former Dean, Faculty of Arts, Bangalore University)