By Kamlesh Vyas
The imaginative and prescient of National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) is high quality universities and faculties. For attaining this imaginative and prescient, the coverage supplies a number of instructions for making increased schooling in India multi-disciplinary and for enhancing the autonomy of upper schooling establishments (HEI)—which incorporates universities and faculties—since autonomy is correlated with multi-disciplinarity. India has numerous domain-specific universities. It additionally has numerous faculties which are both constituent faculties of or affiliated to universities. According to the All India Survey of Higher Education carried out by the ministry of schooling (MoE) 2019-20, there are 1,043 universities in India, of which about half are normal universities whereas the opposite half are universities throughout numerous specialisations like know-how, medication, agriculture, regulation, and administration. There are additionally about 45,000 faculties, of which over 90% are affiliated faculties. It is pertinent to reinforce multi-disciplinarity within the context of single-domain universities and multi-disciplinarity and autonomy within the context of affiliated faculties.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formulated draft tips for remodeling HEIs into multi-disciplinary establishments. These tips tackle areas like eradicating disciplinary boundaries, including different disciplines/ departments, providing a four-year undergraduate diploma and a Masters diploma programmes with a analysis part, encouraging multi-disciplinary analysis, and the institution of enormous multi-disciplinary HEIs in or close to each district by 2030, as really useful by the NEP. The tips additionally present strategies to HEIs for providing twin diploma programmes and built-in programmes throughout departments. Examples embrace Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) by combining B.Ed. and topic commencement; built-in dual-degree applications combining commencement and administration; standalone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) or B.Ed. faculties transitioning into multi-disciplinary HEIs; and universities including departments of schooling and providing B.Ed. programmes. The tips additionally cowl main interventions like merging single-stream establishments with different multi-disciplinary ones (underneath the identical or totally different managements).
Furthermore, on condition that by 2035 all affiliated faculties must grow to be degree-awarding multi-disciplinary autonomous establishments (degree-awarding multi-disciplinary autonomous faculties, which might be smaller than a college or grow to be a part of an HEI cluster or grow to be constituent faculties of a college) as per the NEP, the rules present a roadmap to high schools that are in shut proximity to offer progressive autonomy. In the primary stage, these faculties (both a gaggle of presidency faculties or a gaggle of personal faculties) grow to be a part of a cluster inside their affiliating college. The HEI clusters so created are more likely to contribute to sharing of sources and infrastructure, and enhanced multi-disciplinary analysis, enrolment, pupil outcomes, jobs and so on. Next, the universities within the cluster shall perform and shall be handled like a single unit by the affiliating college. Finally, the cluster would grow to be autonomous degree-awarding cluster of faculties. Alternatively, they might straight grow to be a constituent faculty of a college. These constituent faculties may additionally take the cluster, single unit and autonomous degree-awarding faculties route. NEP envisages that in the end all these HEIs shall grow to be both degree-granting autonomous multi-disciplinary faculties or multi- disciplinary universities.
The tips additionally present necessities of the memorandum of affiliation (MOA), construction of the board of administrators/governors, tutorial council, curriculum growth committee, multi-disciplinary Research committee (MRC), and finance committee, which might be required within the clusters. Details are additionally offered on obligatory disclosures, Institution growth plans (IDPs), necessities on regulatory and different facets like eligibility, tutorial council approvals, college and state authorities approvals and tips on seats, charges, transition throughout institutes, and the awarding of levels for collaboration by way of clusters of faculties. The tips additionally point out a grievance redressal mechanism by UGC for college kids. The UGC additionally particulars enabling mechanisms for an HEI’s journey to autonomy and multi-disciplinarity together with Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT) & Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) for capacity-building; Student Induction Programme (SIP); and Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) for credit score mobility throughout establishments. According to the draft guidelines, domain-specific universities would wish to rework into both multi-disciplinary instructing or analysis universities—these might be giant universities with 3,000 or extra college students. However, giant present universities are additionally envisaged to rework into multi-disciplinary schooling & analysis universities (MERUs), that are prominently talked about in NEP as the final word aspiration for HEIs. While the system of affiliated faculties is to be phased out, it’s hoped that the UGC guideline on faculties turning into constituent faculties of a college doesn’t result in a compelled match with none actual change in high quality, autonomy or multi-disciplinarity.
Multi-disciplinarity is anticipated to deliver extra college students within the increased schooling fold by attracting those that had discovered the choices of upper schooling limiting by making it extra complete, priceless, aligned to real-world wants, and so on. In these efforts to reinforce Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), for which India has a purpose of fifty% by 2035, on-line mode schooling, hybrid mode schooling utilizing – Study Webs of Active-learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), whose rules allow as much as 40 % of the course to be delivered on-line. ODL (Open Distance Learning) options are additionally more likely to contribute considerably since they take schooling out of the constraints of time, bodily entry, and price. Another enabling initiative on this space is the MEES (Multiple Entry and Exit System) which is more likely to deliver flexibility to increased schooling, with an intent to deliver these college students who want extra flexibility (of time, continuity, HEI, disciplines) to have the ability to proceed increased schooling.
As HEIs implement the NEP instructions and UGC tips, they’re more likely to face shortages on three fronts, at the least within the brief time period—monetary sources, since new departments, programs, instructing/studying supplies, entry, tools, know-how, capability constructing, and pupil companies will want funding; and of college and college students. The UGC tips point out a hub-and-spoke mannequin for HEIs and mentoring by the hub HEIs. The tips point out roles that the HEIs, their affiliating universities and state governments would play in enabling the transformation of HEI and consists of monetary help from authorities to affiliating faculties. There might be a necessity for financing help for personal HEIs as properly. Further, the rules would wish to make clear between degree-awarding cluster of faculties and diploma awarding autonomous faculties, latter being prominently referred to within the NEP and the journey for constituent members of a degree-awarding cluster of faculties to grow to be a degree-awarding autonomous faculties and subsequently a instructing college/analysis college. Further, the UGC tips current the intent of NEP comprehensively. However, the HEIs might require additional detailing and clarifications on the NEP instructions within the tips.
The creator is Partner, Deloitte India.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”