NEP Implementation – Challenges Galore

Two years back, on July 4, 2022, I posted an article, NEP – Implementation Conundrum (with reference to higher education), to discuss the challenges in implementing the new National Education Policy (NEP 2020).

I wrote that article two years after the central cabinet approved the policy. The cabinet approval of the policy will complete four years next month, i.e., August. Even after that much time, there is still a long way to go if we take stock of the progress in implementing NEP.

The authorities may argue that policy implementation is not a process of four to five years. NEP has prescribed an implementation period of ten to twenty years for different recommendations. Even if that is a valid argument, we must know we can achieve that target if the process begins now. A delayed start will make the completion target impossible.

The education world in the country is obsessed with the three letters (NEP), and there is a lot of noise about its implementation in universities, colleges, and other higher education institutions (HEIs). The heads of the institutions and faculty members are feeling the pressure. However, the government’s approach is to do a little work and talk a lot.

Working towards NEP implementation, some initiatives of UGC, like establishing ABC (Academic Bank of Credits), forcing institutions to introduce a system of major and minor specializations (to make the degree programs multidisciplinary), and introducing four-year undergraduate degree programs with multiple entry and exit options will improve the system to some extent. However, many institutions are finding it daunting to implement these changes because of inadequate resources.

Without understanding the grassroots-level challenges (or accepting that they exist), if UGC forces HEIs to implement its dictate, the results will only be eyewash. In that case, under pressure, the institutions will report the implementation of the new initiatives, but the effectiveness will be far from achieved. Such ineffective implementation will be worse than no implementation.

Secondly, the new initiatives have not been introduced uniformly across the board in all the institutions.

Those who know the major suggestions in the policy will understand that the authorities have not yet touched on the recommendations that would radically change our higher education system, and there are no indications when those recommendations will be implemented. The authorities are not even talking about them, let alone executing them. ?

The crucial recommendations in the policy about which the authorities are silent are revamping the higher education regulatory system, gradually phasing out the affiliation system, bringing public and private institutions under a single regulatory mechanism, increasing the expenditure on education to 6% of GDP, and setting up Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERU).

The probable reasons could be the government’s inability to commit funds, lack of political will, and plenty of political differences. The tussle between the central and some state governments has led to a call for non-cooperation in implementing (or even accepting) the policy by those states. The political scenario became more complicated after the 2024 general elections, which did not give an absolute majority to a single political party.

In independent India, NEP 2020 is only the third education policy (after 1968 and 1986). The earlier two policies were only partially successful for the same reason: poor implementation. The widely practiced approach or tendency to cover up the implementation failure by highlighting the deficiencies in the policy/strategy/system was responsible for the ineffective implementation of those policies.

Are we heading in the same direction with NEP 2020? Will the current euphoria die after some time, and people stop talking about the policy? Will the government and regulators complete their responsibility with a half-hearted, inadequate, and ineffective implementation of the policy? Will the focus be only on showing big bosses that the policy is being implemented instead of making honest efforts?

?Let us hope that the political parties will give up their political ideologies (of fighting with each other) in the interest of the education system. It will be highly unfair to the student community if the recommendations in the policy are not implemented uniformly throughout the country. ??

We have lost substantial time and cannot afford to lose more time. The political parties and education policymakers must appreciate the urgency of implementing NEP and take the required steps without further delay. ???