NEP And What Does It Mean for Students?

By Pallavi N.B.

The National Education Policy (NEP) came out in 2020, making monumental changes to our education system. What was previously often quoted as ‘rigid’ and ‘outdated’ instantly became a ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’ education system. Let’s understand how NEP changed collegiate education and how it affects students.

What are the changes implemented and how does it affect students?

With gradual introduction and implementation, NEP aims to create a more flexible and globally adaptable higher education system that is not only focused on education at par with international institutions, but that which supports Indian students to become the best of their ability.

Some major changes to the structure of education at the collegiate level include:

• Multi-Disciplinary Education: Colleges under NEP are now required to ensure that the students are allowed to take up subjects outside their chosen field of study, promoting multi-disciplinary education. This might result in access to elective subjects of your choice and support from the college in co-curricular activities.
• Academic Bank of Credit: Credits are commonly used to measure the progress of your degree. A student needs a certain number of credits to receive a degree, so each course done while doing the degree counts towards a few credits. The Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) is an organization that stores these academic credits earned by a student in pursuing their degree. Students can now use these credits to easily transfer colleges or join colleges later in life without the issue of repetition.
• Multiple Entry and Exit: Students can opt to drop out of college at any time and join again another year by using their credits documented with the ABC. This serves as a boon for students with economic and social issues.
• Twinning, Dual, and Joint Degrees: Using the ABC, students can now take up courses from international and other universities adding to their credits. When you use the credits earned from other universities in your course. it counts towards a twinning degree. When both colleges come together to offer a course, or if a student chooses to study at their home university in collaboration with another university, this counts towards a joint degree. Students confident with their academic abilities are allowed to pursue another degree along with the one they are already enrolled in, which counts towards a dual degree. Students can use this to earn credits and degrees from their dream universities.

Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of JNU, and Piyush Prakash, Senior Associate (Education) at NITI Aayog, in a TV panel discussion session iterate that around 7 lakhs students opt to study abroad for reasons such as better education, job opportunities, and more. While 7 lakh students make up a small percentage of the total number of students in college in India, this still results in a loss of intellectual mass. Mr. Kumar then says that NEP was made keeping in mind multi-disciplinary, holistic, and flexible learning with the aim of retaining Indian students in Indian colleges, bringing to them an education on par with global standards.

The NEP has recognized the socio-economic problems students in India face and has taken steps to make education more accessible. The NEP 2020’s goal is to lay the groundwork for a new India that would be centered on creating a knowledgeable society. Every element of the NEP is symbiotically related to the goal of creating institutions for the purpose of progressing the nation. By emphasizing holistic and multi-disciplinary learning, NEP has taken tremendous steps to make its vision a reality. To read more about the NEP and understand its impact on students, visit?https://www.education.gov.in/en