In simple terms this is what National Education Policy of 2020 has to offer to the students aspiring to pursue higher studies in colleges and universities
For a pretty long time there has been a persistent demand and relentless discussion on absolute transformation of the ways and means in which education is imparted and students are taught in our classrooms. Experts in the field have been perpetually voicing their concerns on the need for bringing a paradigm shift in our pedagogy, technology, psychology and philosophy of teaching and making the teaching-learning process more learner-centric that can lead to a holistic professional, personal and career development of our students. National Education Policy of 2020 not only envisages to change the ways in which students are taught but also the methods in which they are evaluated and assessed, trained and prepared for the global job markets, mentored to face the challenges in their career and life, encouraged to take calculated risks and contribute towards innovation, motivated to harness skill acquisition and venture into entrepreneurship development. This policy aims to foster creative, analytical and critical thinking among students in order to achieve the goals of higher education in their real sense. Flexibility will be the key of higher education under NEP-2020 wherein students will have the freedom to move from one discipline of study to another as well as from one institution to another enabling them to experience multi- and interdisciplinary learning as well as the flexibility to switch from conventional to alternative modes of learning including e-learning, online and hybrid modes. Three pillars on which higher education stands are the teachers who teach, students who are taught and the curriculum that is taught. All three of them are going to witness a revolutionary transformation under the auspices of New National Education Policy of 2020.
In the post-NEP era, no longer will the students be forced to sit silent throughout an hour long, one-way lecture delivered by their teacher with little scope to raise any questions or doubts and express themselves freely in a more creative, critical and analytical manner, since NEP-2020 promotes adoption of innovative teaching pedagogies like problem-based, inquiry-based, design-based, context-based, outcome-based, competency-based, activity-based, team-based, project-based, evidence-based, collaborative and experiential learning. Henceforth conventional one-way, didactic, monologic, passive mode of teaching shall be replaced by interactive, participative, dialogic mode of learning in which learners shall have full freedom to express their views, opinions and doubts and present new ideas and solutions, no matter how vague they might sound at the very outset. NEP-2020 seeks to impart multi-disciplinary and holistic education to students with a view to produce multi-dimensional, well-rounded individuals equipped with all types of knowledge, skills, competencies and understanding about life, people, places, arts, sciences, languages and technologies. Apart from building capacities, enhancing abilities, shaping attitudes, promoting aptitude and proficiency, improving motivation and efficiency, multi-disciplinary education shall be offered to build their character, persona, intellect, physique, positive insights and outlooks and transform them into ethical, rational, compassionate and caring citizens, while at the same time preparing them to face the challenges of the global job markets and motivating them to pay back to the society in one positive form or the other.
By virtue of multidisciplinary education, silos and compartments in which we have been working, creating and transmitting knowledge at our educational institutions will be dismantled and students will get an opportunity to learn about arts and humanities too while pursuing sciences, technology, commerce, law or social studies and vice-versa since multi-disciplinary courses, in addition to ability-enhancement, skill-enhancement and value added courses will be offered during an under-graduate degree programme. This will allow students to take a sneak peek and venture into other streams across their discipline and acquire some fundamental knowledge about them while pursuing a major and two minors in their own chosen stream. Ultimate goal of such multidisciplinary learning is to provide greater flexibility and promote “undisciplining’ of knowledge besides developing holistic and all-round individuals who know something about everything, few things about many things and everything about something and thus traverse their journey from being a novice to an advanced learner, from being competent to proficient and finally gaining sufficient expertise in any one chosen field of study. A course shall now be a combination of lecture credits, tutorial credits and practicum credits. For instance, a 4–credit course with three credits assigned for lectures and one credit for practicum shall have three 1-hour lectures per week and one 2-hour duration field-based learning/project or lab work, or workshop activities per week. In a semester of 15 weeks duration, a 4-credit course will be equivalent to 45 hours of lectures and 30 hours of practicum. Furthermore, students will now be able to opt for a UG programme with either a single major discipline wherein they will have to secure a minimum of 50% credits from the major discipline or they can opt for a UG programme with double Major courses wherein they will have to secure a minimum of 40% credits from the second major discipline for the 3-year/4-year UG degree. All discipline-specific courses (major or minor) may be of 4 credits each whereas an additional one to two credits may be allotted for tutorials or practicals. All courses under the multi-disciplinary, ability-enhancement and skill-enhancement categories may be of 3-credits each.
As per NEP-2020, undergraduate degree will be of either 3 or 4-year duration with appropriate certifications at different levels. Students who opt to exit after completion of the first year and have secured 40 credits will be awarded a UG certificate if, in addition, they complete one vocational course of 4 credits during the summer vacation of the first year. These students will be allowed to re-enter the degree programme within three years and complete the degree programme within the stipulated maximum period of seven years. Similarly, students who opt to exit after completion of the second or third year and have secured 80 or 120 credits respectively will be awarded the UG diploma or degree respectively if, in addition, they complete one vocational course of 4 credits during the summer vacation of the second year. A four-year UG Honours degree in the major discipline will be awarded to those who complete a four-year degree programme with 160 credits. Students who secure 75% marks and above in the first six semesters and wish to undertake research at the undergraduate level can choose a research stream in the fourth year. They will work on a research project or dissertation of 12 credits in their major discipline under the guidance of a faculty member of the college or university. Such students will be awarded a UG Degree (Honours with Research). An integrated 5-year Bachelor’s/Master’s programme will also be up for the grabs. Undertaking a Ph.D. shall now require either a Master’s degree or a 4-year Bachelor’s degree with research whereas the M.Phil. programme shall be discontinued. Universities will either be converted into teaching intensive or research-intensive universities whereas all affiliated colleges will be transformed either into autonomous degree awarding colleges/universities or made part of a cluster of universities within their respective regions. Second part of this article will dwell upon academic bank of credits, choice-based-credit-system, assessment and evaluation methods and measures related to skill enhancement and entrepreneurship development in accordance with National Education Policy 2020.
New National Education Policy allows both horizontal and vertical mobility of students as well as mid-term course correction wherein students can swap their chosen majors with minors and vice-versa after their third semester of a UG degree, thus providing them the flexibility to move from one discipline of study to another. During the process of gaining knowledge and completing their degree programmes students can take multiple entries and multiple exits depending upon their personal needs, interests and family commitments. They can stay away from their colleges for a maximum period of three years, re-enter and complete the whole UG degree within a total duration of seven years. This will be particularly useful for the students hailing from rural areas who might occasionally need to lend a helping hand to their families back in their farms during the harvest season or have some other important assignments to attend. Similarly, the students opting for some kind of start-ups, entrepreneurial and industrial ventures can take a break from their college routines and complete their assignments without affecting their career prospects adversely. An Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) shall be established which would digitally store the academic credits earned from various recognized institutions of higher learning. This will allow students to gain the required number of credits from different educational institutions within the country and move around in an unhindered manner from one institution to another. This will also help them gain diverse experiences and insights in different cultures and learning environments of different academic institutions while at the same time giving them freedom to move from one station to another, with or without their family members while pursuing their UG or PG degrees.
NEP-2020 promotes semester-wise, choice-based-credit-system that presents a cafeteria model wherein students can choose open and generic elective courses and teachers of their own choice and do not have to necessarily get taught by only a specific teacher or group of teachers working in a particular educational institution or teaching department of that institute. This will lure greater number of students towards more enterprising, proficient and effective teachers and will generate a healthy competition among teachers motivating others to perform better and create demand for themselves in their respective institutions and teaching departments. Teachers who make use of innovative teaching pedagogies and make learning fun and enjoyable will obviously be in greater demand rather than teachers who believe in chalk and talk method of teaching and rote-learning by students. This will foster creativity, innovation and modernization of teaching pedagogies among teachers and make them more effective knowledge workers. Students who have already enrolled and are pursuing UG programme as per Choice-Based-Credit-System will also be eligible to pursue 4-year undergraduate programme and the university concerned may offer bridge courses (including online courses) to enable them for transition to curriculum and credit framework for undergraduate programme (CCFUGP) notified by UGC. Therefore, NEP-2020 envisages to invest liberally towards creating, fostering, implementing, sustaining and regularizing innovations among our young generation of students that will encourage our students and teachers to be industrious, productive, resourceful and open, share new ideas freely, explore novel initiatives without any fear of ridicule or retribution.
National Education Policy-2020 does not make any distinction between academic and vocational, curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular courses and activities. It gives equitable weightage to all thus allowing students inclined more towards sports, arts, music, dancing, social work etc to pursue their careers with full vigour without losing on their academic scores and grades. New policy encourages formative assessment over summative assessment, continuous over terminal assessment, conceptual understanding over rote-learning and flexibility over rigidity. Thus the students need not cram their curricular contents for their terminal examinations and need not get sleepless nights while preparing for the same. They can just relax and get themselves evaluated on continuous basis soon after they acquire the requisite knowledge, skill or competence in any specific portion of their curriculum because as per NEP-2020 education will be learning outcomes based wherein students will be evaluated on regular (weekly, monthly or quarterly) basis for the accomplishment of their learning objectives. Progress towards achievement of learning outcomes will be assessed using time-constrained examinations including closed-book and open-book tests, problem-based assignments, practical assignment laboratory reports, observation of practical skills, individual project reports (case-study reports), team-based project reports, oral presentations including seminars, viva voce interviews, computerized adaptive assessment, examination on demand, modular certifications, etc. Learning objectives and outcomes will be divided into programme learning outcomes for the whole UG or PG programme and course learning outcomes for various courses within a specific UG or PG programme.
New education policy allows special attention for slow learners through special mentorship guidance and extra-hours of grooming through one-to-one sessions. It also seeks to promote local language, culture and heritage while at the same time inculcating a sense of deep rootedness and pride in India through an understanding and appreciation of its rich ethos, traditions, diversity and contributions to the world of science, mathematics, literature and knowledge. It envisages to make education and research more socially and locally relevant by promoting community outreach and extension activities. Skill enhancement and entrepreneurship development will be promoted through promotion of innovation-incubation and start-up culture. Industrial visits, internships and on-the-job training of students will be fostered with a view to help them meet the emerging challenges of highly dynamic global job markets and make them more employable as per contemporary industry needs. New policy seeks to give impetus to online and e-learning with a view to make education more accessible, affordable and accountable and for this endeavour it aims to bridge the digital divide by providing free gadgets to students hailing from far-flung areas and belonging to lower strata of the society. Collaboration between colleges and universities across the nation will be promoted under the post-NEP era wherein student and teacher exchange programmes will receive a flip and more and more MOUs would be signed in future between inter and intra-national universities in diverse areas of mutual interest. In nutshell students will enjoy greater autonomy, freedom and flexibility under the new policy and relish their studies rather than view them as some kind of unwanted burden. Role of teachers will also be transformed from that of passive transmitters of knowledge to active facilitators and reliable mentors and the educational institutions too will enjoy a higher degree of academic and administrative autonomy besides mutual collaboration and cooperation to achieve the desired goals of higher education. Ultimate aim is to make our students effective contributors of the knowledge society who can contribute significantly towards nation building and augment our knowledge capital.
