Why such haste in implementing NEP2020 at the UG level

By Prof. Lakhon Kma

The ongoing impasse regarding the implementation of the NEP2020 at UG level is a very serious matter. As a teacher, it pains me to see such disconnects between the North-Eastern Hill University-the Implementing body, the college teachers and administration-the main serving body and the State Government-the regulating authority. Perhaps, it is a serious lack of understanding of the spirit of NEP2020 that has led the University authority and the State Govt. to shy away from their responsibilities for effective implementation taking all stakeholders on board. Let me put the following excerpts taken from the National Education Policy 2020 document, released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Now Ministry of Education) Government of India, which is the last part of the document on page 61-62 as the conclusion.

“27. Implementation

27.1. Any policy’s effectiveness depends on its implementation. Such implementation will require multiple initiatives and actions, which will have to be taken by multiple bodies in a synchronized and systematic manner. Therefore, the implementation of this Policy will be led by various bodies including MHRD, CABE, Union and State Governments, education-related Ministries, State Departments of Education, Boards, NTA, the regulatory bodies of school and higher education, NCERT, SCERTs, schools, and HEIs along with timelines and a plan for review, in order to ensure that the policy is implemented in its spirit and intent, through coherence in planning and synergy across all these bodies involved in education. 27.2. Implementation will be guided by the following principles. First, implementation of the spirit and intent of the Policy will be the most critical matter. Second, it is important to implement the policy initiatives in a phased manner, as each policy point has several steps, each of which requires the previous step to be implemented successfully. Third, prioritization will be important in ensuring optimal sequencing of policy points, and that the most critical and urgent actions are taken up first, thereby enabling a strong base. Fourth, comprehensiveness in implementation will be key; as this Policy is interconnected and holistic, only a full-fledged implementation, and not a piecemeal one, will ensure that the desired objectives are achieved. Fifth, since education is a concurrent subject, it will need careful planning, joint monitoring, and collaborative implementation between the Centre and States. Sixth, timely infusion of requisite resources – human, infrastructural, and financial – at the Central and State levels will be crucial for the satisfactory execution of the Policy.

Finally, careful analysis and review of the linkages between multiple parallel implementation steps will be necessary in order to ensure effective dovetailing of all initiatives. This will also include early investment in some of the specific actions (such as the setting up of early childhood care and education infrastructure) that will be imperative to ensuring a strong base and a smooth progression for all subsequent programmes and actions. 27.3. Subject-wise implementation committees of experts in cooperation and consultation with other relevant Ministries will be set up at both the Central and State levels to develop detailed implementation plans for each aspect of this Policy in accordance with the above principles to achieve the goals of the Policy in a clear and phased manner. Yearly joint reviews of the progress of implementation of the policy, in accordance with the targets set for each action, will be conducted by designated teams constituted by MHRD and the States, and reviews will be shared with CABE. In the decade of 2030-40, the entire policy will be in an operational mode, following which another comprehensive review will be undertaken.”

I have the following submissions based on the spirit of the NEP2020 as stated above:

1. Have we fulfilled clause 27.1? Certainly not. Where is the planning, synergy and cohesiveness among the University and State government and the teachers’ vis-à-vis keeping the interest of students to ensure that the policy is implemented in its spirit and intent? For the record, the Academic Council of University never took the decision to implement it from 2023.
2. At clause 27.2, it stressed on implementation of the spirit and intent of the Policy which is the most critical matter. It is intended to implement the policy initiatives in a phased manner with careful planning and execution in a systematic way. What is our priority-to implement a half-baked policy and make it a piece meal and not holistic implementation against the spirit of the Policy or a full-fledged implementation to ensure that the desired objectives are achieved? Now the amended NEHU Ordinance OC-8 and Regulation RC-12 governing the UG Courses, Course Structure and Subject Combinations are in place which was approved by the 110^thMeeting of the Academic Council (AC) held on 19^thMay and 2^nd June 2023 whose Minutes was out only on the 28^th of June 2023. There was so much haste that the MDC courses approved by the AC which was minuted and circulated to members does not match with the MDC courses sent to the colleges by the OSD, CDC NEHU in the first semester; this is the result of what we call in Khasi ‘Bam ja khluid’, you are bound to burn your mouth. Only the syllabus of first and second semester of UG courses has been approved by the same AC, and the remaining six semester syllabus has not even been discussed at any level-respective Board of Studies, School Boards and the Academic Council. It’s almost like asking the students, teachers and parents to play a game without telling them about all the rules governing it-a perfect recipe for academic disaster at UG level defeating the whole purpose of the Policy itself and jeopardizing the careers of our students.
3. Education is a concurrent subject, so where is the State government which is supposed to play a vital role so that there could be careful planning, joint monitoring, and collaborative implementation between the Centre and States as envisaged in the Policy? Shying away and leaving it to NEHU administration only, the State Government is avoiding its responsibility towards the students and people of the state of Meghalaya and others.
4. Where is timely infusion of requisite resources – human, infrastructural, and financial – at the Central and State levels which is crucial for the satisfactory execution of the Policy. Forget about timely infusion, here in Meghalaya, there is no time given between understanding the approved NEHU Ordinance governing it and its implementation, as if someone is hell-bent to push down the NEP through our throat.
5. Lastly, the NEP2020 is intended to achieve the goals of the Policy in a clear and phased manner with proper implementation, monitoring and periodic review taking all stakeholders onboard. Indeed, there is time till 2030 for its implementation across the country so why this hurry for NEHU to implement in a haphazard manner. Thankfully, here everyone seems to be in agreement with implementing it at the UG level, perhaps from the 2024-25 session. Between now and 2024, why not wait for a year, fine tune it; prepare the syllabi for the remaining semesters; allow colleges and the State government to understand its implications in totality for subsequent effective implementation from 2024-25 without any exceptions.

It is a fact that some universities have implemented it and many more are in the process of implementing it in the coming years and we are not the last one left. Moreover, the Policy was always intended to be implemented in a phased manner across the country. We have waited for almost 10 years to get some new faculty in NEHU against more than 150 vacant positions, can’t we wait for a year for smooth and effective implementation of NEP2020 at UG level?

Indeed, I am against those faculty who are spreading wrong information about having a lesser number of papers in UG under the current choice-based credit system (CBCS) compared to other universities to influence the hasty implementation of NEP. It is not the number but the quantum and content of syllabi that should matter. Can such faculty prove that our students never got into elite services such as IAS, MCS, etc. or gainful employment all these years since the adoption of CBCS till date? The problem is such faculty were members of the Academic Council for over a decade but never raised a single question on this until now, when the CBCS is almost out of the curriculum. Perhaps, it suits them to raise it now as a proxy to someone.

The implementation of NEP2020 in UG level should not be a matter of ego or to please someone but keeping the best interests of the students and teachers of the affiliated colleges in co-operation with the State Govt. It has to be dealt with sensitivity and taking the concerns of everyone in mind. I am saying even if there is one college in remote areas of Garo Hills, Khasi-Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi, their concerns have to be addressed first. The Academic Council is the ultimate authority in all academic matters, including date/year/session of implementation of any new curriculum, as per the NEHU Act, Statutes and Ordinances and so let’s follow the rules in the larger interest of the University, its students and the state of Meghalaya as a whole.

(The author teaches in NEHU).