Academicians from North East skeptical about the Implementation of NEP

Academicians welcomed the National Education Policy (NEP) as a milestone in the transformation of education, as some questioned the willingness of state governments to implement a new policy.

Premier Technology Institute, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G), said that a new policy on education is a milestone in the reform of the country's overall education sector and would transform India into a knowledge hub.

"In addition to incorporating the ethos of Indian Philosophy right from early schooling, it has also incorporated Sustainable Development Goals that IIT Guwahati has been promoting and has already made part of its undergraduate curriculum and has been the first institute in the country to do so," read the statement.

It also stated that the objective of the allocation of 6 % of GDP to education, the entry of foreign universities into India and the establishment of the National Research Foundation will provide a major boost to the education sector as well as to research and development in the country.

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IITG has launched a "Center for Indian Knowledge, Sanskrit and Yoga" in line with NEP 2020. Welcome to NEP2020, IIT-G Director Prof. TG Sitharam, who followed closely the NEP 2020 event said, "These reforms in the education sector have been long awaited and are likely to transform India into a global hub for education and research if carefully implemented. It takes into account the changes taking place across the country right from the foundation until the student reaches the professional level and several other important objectives of inclusive education.

Sanjay Dutta, academic registrar of Cotton University, said that education will become more flexible now and students will get an exposure to research works even before becoming a graduate. “In the four-year degree programme after Class 12, the research component will be there and this is a positive move in NEP,” he said.

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He also welcomed the fact that more emphasis on vocational education at school level would give a new dimension to the education sector and that the needy students would have a clear opportunity to pursue vocational education from the outset. "Integrated BED, NEP-sponsored, will help in the production of quality teachers. Now, those who are willing to become school teachers will have to decide on their career choices after school, which will help them to acquire the qualities of good teachers from early years," Dutta said.

But at one point, some academics have been critical of the implementation of such drastic changes. University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) Chancellor M Haque said, "NEP proposes to bring A to Z changes to the administrative and academic establishment at one go. There are massive changes in academia, starting from elementary to PG and at the level of research. It's not going to be easy to implement.

He said that in a diverse region like the North East, meeting the multilingual needs of students will be a major challenge without streamlining the language issue.

"There must be a proper mechanism of implementation in terms of administrative pattern. Framework of implementation of NEP in the grassroots level is missing, otherwise, it would have yielded a very good outcome," Haque added. He said that without infrastructural upgradation, it is difficult to transform the scenario in the government schools which are lagging far behind, especially in the northeast.

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Academician Dinesh Baishya said, "The government is setting up public and private institutions to commercialize the entire education system. The modular education system will increase the drop-in rate, as many poor and middle-class students will complete their formal education with a certificate before graduation.

He criticized the decision to open up Indian education to foreign universities. "NEP is a major threat to marginalized students who can not afford expensive education. Regions like NE, where the education system is yet to develop, will be the worst affected," Baishya said.