In an interaction with Higher Education Review Magazine, Amruth G Kumar, Professor, Central University of Kerala shared his insights on various aspects of the key challenges that may arise during the implementation of NEP 2020, what the key features and objectives of NEP 2020 in the context of higher education and more. Amruth has close to 15 years of experience in the fields of teaching and education. He has been associated with Central University of Kerala for over eight years now, prior to which he worked as an Assistant Professor at Pondicherry University.

Tell us about a few major policy changes introduced by NEP 2020 that have the potential to transform the education system in India.

Since it is a national policy passed by the government, NEP no doubt has immense potential to transform the education system in India. Suggestions made by NEP make structural changes at all levels of education. While there were three levels of school education (pre-primary, primary and high school) earlier, there will now be newer levels such as foundational, preparatory and secondary post the implementation of the NEP 2020. Also, while pre-primary education is not mandatory in India today, NEP 2020 aims at bringing all children aged 3-years into the schools, thus making pre-primary education compulsory in the country. This is expected to strengthen the students’ desire to pursue education and significantly cut-down dropouts.

In terms of higher education, UG will now also have 4-year courses along with the previous 3-year courses. Additionally, there will now be both 1-year & 2-year PG courses, and 4-year UG course students can directly take-up PhD directly. In addition to this, there will also be a host of other changes in terms of accreditation, autonomy and other governance related areas. Also, internship will be mandatory for all UG & PG students, and students will now have the flexibility to exit the program and rejoin it after 2-3 years.

What are the key challenges that may arise during the implementation of NEP 2020?

Given the vast geographical area and diversity that our country comprises of and the complex nature of our education system, there are a variety of challenges in the implementation of NEP 2020. The first & foremost challenge is to introduce all the suggested changes in compliance with all legal and regulatory frameworks. For instance, substituting UGC with another higher authority, for which the bill needs to be passed in the parliament in order to be implemented. Similarly, most of the changes suggested by NEP 2020 require numerous legislations for them to be implemented. The second key challenge is the risk of drifting away from the basic objectives of NEP 2020. Additionally, the diversity in terms of geographical demography, culture, language and various other factors across each state poses a critical hindrance towards implementing a nation-wide policy like NEP. Furthermore, the political ideologies of each state government vary drastically, and few states like Kerala, Telangana, West Bengal and Karnataka are against the implementation of NEP 2020, which needs to be amicably settled.

Briefly explain the key features and objectives of NEP 2020 in the context of higher education.

NEP will no doubt have a serious impact on the higher education space in India because the changes that are expected to be implemented at this level of education is being looked at very closely and seriously by the international community. The most important change that is being recommended by NEP 2020 in terms of higher education is the unaffiliation of educational institutions and recognizing them as autonomous colleges or deemed universities. Also, there is a huge difference in the number of student enrolments across higher education institutions in India. For instance, while B.Ed colleges have an annual enrolment of 50 students, institutions like IITs, central universities and private universities that have an annual enrolment of around 10,000 students. As a result, NEP has suggested making it mandatory to have a minimum of 3,000 students in an institution.

Another key area of higher education where NEP 2020 will have a significant impact is the ranking & accreditation, wherein currently, the ranking is done by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and accreditation is being done by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). NEP 2020 recommends allowing new private accreditors and institutional rankers to come-in and NAAC to become an agency that will license these new agencies to accredit and rank the educational institutions in the country. Additionally, NEP 2020 also aims at enhancing the total enrolments in higher education from the current 27-28 percent to 50 percent by 2030. However, there is scarcity of higher education institutes in the country in order to accommodate this sharp rise in student enrolments. To address this critical challenge, NEP recommends universities to start offering MOOCs that will enable students to acquire a degree through online medium.

How does NEP 2020 address the issue of employability and skill development in higher education?

Employability and skill development are among the key focus objective of NEP 2020, wherein it speaks about multiple skilling of students in the higher education space. While we used to speak about upskilling students in a particular area, NEP 2020 advocates creating opportunities for individuals to learn any number of skills as per their choice/interest. This is because we are currently living in the age of automation and at the threshold of the 4^th Industrial Revolution, wherein many jobs might cease to exist. Being skilled in multiple areas offers individuals access to diverse set of career options and enables them to become more employable.