Industry Reactions On New National Education Policy (NEP 2020)
It took almost three decades to announced the much-awaited New Education Policy-2020. Education sector welcomed the new education policy which will provide a new path to the education system in India.
On Wednesday, New National Education Policy was validated by the Union Cabinet Ministers Prakash Javadekar (I&B) and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (HRD), who have played a key role in developing the new policies.
On 1 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assessed the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), for which a draft was set up by a board of experts driven by former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan. The National Education Policy 2020 targets making "India a global knowledge superpower".
Here is how industry reacts:
Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur
“We welcome the move made by The Cabinet to rename the HRD ministry to the Education ministry as the role of the department is to further and provide education. Allowing global institutes to set up campuses in India is also a positive move as it will increase competition because it will open up our education system and it will also help sustain high talent in the country as students don’t have to move out to pursue education. Changing the pedagogical structure from a 10+2 system to a 5+3+3+4 system is in line with international educational standards. Due to the small structure of our IIMs and IITs, despite having ample talent, they were unable to figure in top 100 institutes of the world. Allowing technical institutes to become multi-disciplinary will help IIMs and IITs to start other departments like medical etc and make their size bigger and allow them to admit more students. This will enable them to compete with the elite institutes of the world and become at par with them in the coming years. Diversification makes education more complete and helps increase intellectual outcome. Overall, the changes have been made according to the global system of education. This will also help attract foreign students to India and help the economy as well.”
Akshay Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO LeverageEdu
“With the RTE now extended to 18 years of age, I am supremely confident that we will see a much bigger number of our population pursing higher education. This is by far one of the most defining things to have happened in the Indian Education landscape in the last three decades. We should also use this opportunity to set up collaborations with institutes of excellence abroad, bring them here for their best practices, and have the quality be risen multiple notches too - so that we do indeed live up the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of a $5 Tn economy together with very strong human development!”
Sumit Kumar, Vice President - NETAP, TeamLease Skills University
“The new education policy has been designed keeping in view the target of 50% GER by 2035, which it will achieve earlier than the deadline as the proposed flexibility and modularity in the undergraduate programs, introduction of academic bank of credit, and emphasis on the use of technology will improve enrolments. However, the policy is more input oriented and has not much emphasis upon the outcome which is employability or the job readiness. Introduction of online degree linked apprenticeship program would have ensured both the enrolments and the employability. Globally, higher education is merging with corporate learning which makes education relevant for both the students and employers. Returns on education (RoE) should be measured by job readiness. Policy should have looked at the role of employers in higher education through a tripartite arrangement. The US introduced the Student Apprenticeship Act to connect apprenticeships with higher education with a tripartite arrangement between the student, employer and the university. We are still emphasizing on numeracy and literacy in the digital world where as the ICT is the new basics in the learning system. We hope the amendment delivers on desired ROE.”
Prof. Malabika Sarkar, Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University
“The much awaited NEP 2020 is a step in the right direction by the Government of India and will help achieve the mission of Literate India soon. GER of 50% is an important target and all universities must contribute to it. The initiatives announced under NEP 2020 should help achieve this target.
We are happy that the multidisciplinary approach we have been practicing is recognized as the right way to prepare students for challenges in their careers. We are also happy that continuous assessment will be the way to evaluate students, which is something we believe in.
Government-recognized multiple entry and exit options at the Undergraduate level will give more options to the youth. This, supported by an Academic Bank of Credit to digitally store academic credits, will go a long way in providing a favorable environment to students to plan their education. Ashoka has a unique one-year multidisciplinary Young India Fellowship programme that is crafted to offer students a rich postgraduate experience in one year.
The NEP also has made a bold move to resolve the binary of research and teaching and the focus on research will foster a strong culture for innovation. This, along with enhancement of digital infrastructure, will match our education system with the requirements of today’s dynamic business and economic environment.
The Government of India’s move to increase public investment in education to 6% of GDP is critical to ensure quality education which is measured on the basis of learning outcomes. Financial support to incentivize meritorious students will go a long way easing their path to the right education. The aim to ensure that merit is recognized and is not left behind because of lack of support. This is a tenet for Ashoka, and nearly half our students are on financial aid.”
Sumeet Mehta, Cofounder & CEO, LEAD School
The New Education Policy has introduced pathbreaking reforms. Few points that stand out:
1. Recognising the importance of Early Childhood Education with its 5+3+3+4 formula - some of us working in ECCE for the last 12 years couldn't be happier!
2. The move towards flexible entry and exit and breaking down the barriers between Arts, Commerce and Science. This will herald a new era of cross-disciplinary learning.
3. One that is problematic is the insistence of mother tongue till Class 5. This is against the principle of choice. Parents should choose the medium they want their children to learn in.
Shubham Dangwal, Ph.D Research Scholar & Teaching Associate at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology
“This is welcome news for the education sector as from time to time our apps update themselves just like that our education also wants an update. NEP aims at meeting the existing challenges in our education system and building the new foundation for the students. Now I am waiting for its implementation,". The policy will now focus on more eLearning, all-inclusive and multidisciplinary approach towards education and is likely to allow students flexibility in choosing subjects in undergraduate and post-graduate education.
Dr. Dishan Kamdar, Vice Chancellor, FLAME University
“I would like to congratulate the Ministry for announcing the National Education Policy 2020. This is going to be a game changer for the future of the education system in India. Multidisciplinary colleges in every district by 2030 will encourage liberal arts education to a great extent. India will have the largest percentage of young population in the world by 2030. The renewed focus on arts, humanities, importance of research, mandating all institutions to offer a multi-disciplinary form of education will ensure that we will skill our young people for life and prepare them for diverse careers in the future. FLAME University is looking forward to partner in this initiative and collaborate with the government. NETF will be a milestone in the digital learning agenda especially creating an outreach in the remotest areas so that the NEP’s aim to achieve the Right to Education for all children in the age group of 3-18 years by 2030 will now be a possibility. Access to education is extremely crucial and the honourable ministry has given it great impetus thereby ensuring delivery of education gets the right upliftment. FLAME University is totally driven with the various recommendations by the NEP 2020 and is geared to welcome the initiatives. We are extremely delighted that FLAME has aligned its liberal education model in line with the government’s strategic focus on multi-disciplinary education.”
Shaheem Rahiman, CEO, Atria University
“The introduction of the New Education Policy 2020 seeks to bring some much-needed changes in the Indian education system that will positively impact future Indian students. Strong measures to simplify and strengthen the Indian school education system with focus on new-age skills such as coding from an early age, removal of the over-importance placed on board exams and promise to use digital education to achieve scale will help reach many more Indian students. We are most impressed with the praiseworthy move to increase academic flexibility by pushing a multi-disciplinary approach to college education, a four-year UG program and providing students the option of multiple exit-points in their higher education journeys. We, at Atria, believe that students should be empowered to choose their own learning pathways, explore their interests and graduate with the skills and passion to excel in the career of their choice. In line with the NEP 2020, we seek to build a forward-looking University that offers absolute flexibility to students to move between domains and degrees and do not judge the quality of students on the basis of their marks alone. We hope that the new policy is implemented strongly and are confident that India will take big strides towards becoming a global education hub with this move.”
Amit Gainda, Chief Executive Officer, Avanse Financial Services
“The new National Education Policy announced by the Education Ministry is a welcome move amidst the outbreak of the pandemic in this sector. The timeliness of this policy is extremely crucial as the previous policy was adopted in 1992 which was before the onset of the internet revolution in India. The policy stresses on the importance of curriculum and pedagogical framework for early childhood which actually strengthens the base of every individual. It is inspiring to witness how the new NEP has rightly focused on the importance of developing a scientific acumen at an early age. The transformational approach from marks based report card to a holistic evaluation is a future-ready shift.
NEP’s initiative of bringing foreign university campuses in India is a formidable step towards strengthening the Indian education ecosystem. This will help the students experience the global quality of education in their very own country. These moves will create a symbiotic environment for the educational aspirants to pave a clear path for achieving their educational goals. Emergence of a single regulatory body, emphasis on a holistic and multi-disciplinary education, introduction of e-learning courses in regional languages and the establishment of the National Research Foundation are the stepping stones to build a bright future.
Education infrastructure is one of the important parameters which also needs a massive boost from the government authorities. Hence, we look forward to witness some strong reforms on these lines as well. As a customer-centric, education focused organization, Avanse Financial Services will always be there to provide the necessary support in terms of education financing solutions to fulfil the aspirations of every deserving Indian student and to build quality education infrastructure in the country.”
Mr. Ramananda SG, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Pearson India
“The National Education policy has certainly made bold and historic reforms towards the quality of education and improving student learning outcomes. It is not only designed to directly address the gaps which were prevalent earlier but also recognises the importance of EdTech as a medium. The announcement regarding 6% public investment of the GDP in education sector will provide a much needed boost to the quality and scope of education in the country. In a bid to ramp up digital and education becoming multilingual, the accessibility will increase across the country as institutes will introduce multi-disciplinary platforms. Integration of creative combinations of subjects, specialised learning, character development, blended learning, inter disciplinary methods, and flexible curriculums will help strengthen emotional intelligence, critical thinking and problem solving skills of students making headway for a bright future in the 21st century. In higher ed, multiple exit options in degree courses will give a boost to vocational qualifications and practical knowledge which is the need of the hour with changing times globally. While there are many aspects still to retrospect, the charter is truly a testimony of quality consultation and deep thinking, hence unlocking the construction of a new nation.”
Mohan Lakhamraju, Founder & CEO, Great Learning
“The new National Education Policy 2020 is very progressive and introduces much-needed set of reforms for the Education sector in India. Specifically for Higher Education, the push towards making all institutions multidisciplinary is an excellent step since today all aspects of business and society are complex and multi-disciplinary in nature. The rationalization of regulatory bodies and the path to progressive autonomy to institutions is also a very welcome step. The opening up to the top 100 international universities will bring in high-quality programs to our students and will further raise the quality bar for all our institutions. Lastly, it is great to see the focus on online education and having the same quality aspiration for it, something that we at Great Learning deeply believe in and would look to make an impactful contribution towards.”
Mr. Ramananda SG, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Pearson India
“The National Education policy has certainly made bold and historic reforms towards the quality of education and improving student learning outcomes. It is not only designed to directly address the gaps which were prevalent earlier but also recognises the importance of EdTech as a medium. The announcement regarding 6% public investment of the GDP in education sector will provide a much needed boost to the quality and scope of education in the country. In a bid to ramp up digital and education becoming multilingual, the accessibility will increase across the country as institutes will introduce multi-disciplinary platforms. Integration of creative combinations of subjects, specialised learning, character development, blended learning, inter disciplinary methods, and flexible curriculums will help strengthen emotional intelligence, critical thinking and problem solving skills of students making headway for a bright future in the 21st century. In higher ed, multiple exit options in degree courses will give a boost to vocational qualifications and practical knowledge which is the need of the hour with changing times globally. While there are many aspects still to retrospect, the charter is truly a testimony of quality consultation and deep thinking, hence unlocking the construction of a new nation. “
Dr. Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, Shahani Group
"The New Education Policy should have been implemented years ago to enable India's education system to catch up with that of other fast-developing nations in Asia. The focus on light government regulation, multidisciplinary institutions and creating equivalence of vocational and academic streams are welcome, but these have been a part of other countries' education models for years. It would have been good to have some more innovative ideas implemented like recognition of pathway/twinning programs with foreign universities, permission for for-profit firms to set up schools & colleges, allowing corporate CSR funding for primary research in universities and allowing universities to offer online degrees to outside their geographical jurisdiction. As education is a state subject, it is important for the central government to create a mechanism to ensure each state implements these new policies effectively."
Nitish Jain, President, SP Jain School of Global Management
"The New Education Policy is a welcome move, which will help propel India’s education system in the right direction. The policy recognises the need of the hour, and places increased focus on technology-based learning and application through virtual labs and divyang-friendly softwares, which if implemented effectively, will lead to an equitable access to education while creating a more future-ready workforce. Allowing Indian universities to set up offshore campuses as well as facilitating foreign universities to operate in India, will not only increase the quality of education, but also strengthen India’s position on the map as a global education destination. If there is one thing I didn’t like about the policy changes it is the reduction of High School from 12 years to 11 years. 12 years is the generally accepted international norm."
Kavita Sahay Kerawalla, Vice Chairperson, VIBGYOR Group of Schools
The new NEP 2020 has reoriented the focus of education and trying to move away from rote-learning and memorising as core practices. Instead, there is a greater focus on testing concepts and knowledge application, and encouraging a more holistic development for students. With board exams now becoming low-stakes and students being able to choose the subjects in which they take board exams, there will be lesser pressure and more flexibility.
Abhishek Patil, Co- Founder Oliveboard
We at Oliveboard, welcome the new education policy that focuses on the All round development of students with emphasis on extra curricular activities, music, arts & sports. The introduction of vocational learning & coding from 6th std onwards would help develop students the skill set required to grow in the modern world,
Kounal Gupta, Founder, Henry Harvin Education
Absolute data to make a judgement would be out when we complete 1 absolute cycle in at least 12 years. However, by then it would directly impact more than 2.5 crores lives! This is undoubtedly an historic and a much needed policy change. The first ever education policy of the 21st century replacing the 34 years old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. Thus, it is very important for each and every citizen in a country of 1.3 billion to be aware of this.
Anindya Mallick, Partner, Deloitte India
School Education
* “The policy signifies a transformational change in the Indian Education system across school and higher education which aligns it with that practiced by developed countries, meets the youth aspirations and makes them ready for the workplace of the future.
* School education is proposed to transition from the current 10 + 2 years to a new structure of Foundational (comprising 3 years of pre-school & grades 1-2); Preparatory (comprising grades 3-5); Middle (comprising grades 6-8) and High (comprising grades 9-12 in 2 phases of grades 9& 10 and 11&12). The structure is based on taking cognizance of a child’s developmental journey during their formative years as well as trying to ensure that critical characteristics like knowledge seeking, logical thinking, social skills like communication, teamwork, etc. are imbibed.
* School education pedagogy to change with transitioning from rote learning to conceptual learning with the proposed new curriculum to include life skills, problem solving skills, critical thinking, scientific temper with learning methodologies being based on projects, activities and experiments. This will set a child’s foundational skills to take up course as per their aptitude and competencies which will serve them well in their future career prospects.”
Higher Education
* “A single regulator for higher education combining UGC and AICTE will ensure that higher education institutes can start offering multi-disciplinary courses as per the choice of the student. This will help in students taking up options of subjects as per their interest and aptitude and help them in charting their future career paths.
* The categorization of higher education institutions as research intensive, teaching intensive and autonomous degree granting will help focus the institutes on their orientation and attract interested students, faculty accordingly – This will enable creation of the required eco-system and focus.
* The multi entry and exit mechanism will be helpful to students as it gives them the flexibility of continuing their education and taking decisions based on career choices. In this context the academic bank of credits to be accessed through digilocker will be beneficial for students who decide to drop off at various milestones of certificate, diploma to come back for completing their degree when they have the opportunity.”
Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-Founder, InterviewBit & Scaler Academy
"We welcome the New Education Policy 2020. An overhaul of the formal education system has been long awaited, and the timing couldn’t be better with the nation gearing for an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. The impetus given to holistic learning & employment-focused skill development under the revised policy is critical to the creation of an inclusive education system. The fact that the government has acknowledged the importance of coding as an essential skill in a digital first future is reassuring. And the introduction of coding from Class 6 onwards is, therefore, a significant step in the right direction.
