Indian National Policy review on higher education

“… and just because you have colleges and universities doesn't mean you have
education"
- Malcom X

1.0 Introduction

The “Indian National policy”, is a foundation based on the government of India’s decision, to formulate
and transform how education is promoted in the urban and rural areas of our country. Its decision with
regard to higher education was done by a committee set up on June 2017 which led them to draft and
review its policies (Uttam, 2019). In an article, Gowda (2019) expresses grief regarding how the national
policy has always been in a lot of controversies over the years. One of the main talks about the decision
of higher education is the curriculum design.

2.0 Higher Education

India had transformed the higher education landscape in a very remarkable way over the last two
decades. The university education is now well accessible to students equally in a very low-cost and high-
quality manner. Their main focus also included “World class teaching” (Uttam, 2019).

2.1 Policy on Higher education

According to an article by India Today (2019), the policy on higher education is focused on the
following.
“In higher education, a restructuring of higher education institutions with three types of higher
education institutions is proposed-
Type 1: Focused on world-class research and high quality teaching
Type 2: Focused on high quality teaching across disciplines with significant contribution to
research;
Type 3: High quality teaching focused on undergraduate education. This will be driven by two
Missions -Mission Nalanda & Mission Takshashila.” (India Today, 2019)
 2.2 Realities of the policy

Though the National policy on higher education flourishes in various streams, it cannot be
ignored that at the same time it suffers from several system deficiencies, that lead to plenty of
graduates who are left unemployed even though in various sectors there is shortage of skilled
manpower. According to an article written by (Maniar, 2018), all the past efforts put in, have
failed to impact the education system in a significant way. Talking about the state of research, it
has not only led down and failed to improve, but at the same time, it has suffered tremendously,
for which the government and the Educators both are to be blamed. Generations and
generations of people have passed out of universities without even producing a single original
research. Students qualify through and gain their PhD certificates, but when questioned are
unable to respond with the apt answer. For instance, a literature student has thousands of areas
to work in, but a clear vision is not shown to them, due to which, they are unable to think out of
the box. There are plenty of universities where the students are not allowed to work in the area
they wish to, due to lack of supervisors or lack of knowledge about that area of topic.

3.0 Conclusion

There are always both positives and negatives in the growing area of higher education. Policies on
education need to be reviewed and discussed further. Positive and negative impact of education on
children needs to be taken seriously as the world we live in is more competitive than one can imagine
and there is, and always will be a fight for the survival of the fittest in the field of education.

4.0 Bibliography
Gowda, C., 2019. Missing secularism in new education policy. [online] https://www.livemint.com.
Available at: <https://www.livemint.com/education/news/missing-secularism-in-new-education-
policy-1561564775831.html> [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

India Today, 2019. HRD Ministry drafts new National Educational Policy: 19 changes
recommended. [online] India Today. Available at: <https://www.indiatoday.in/education-
today/news/story/hrd-ministry-drafts-new-national-educational-policy-19-changes-
recommended-1540190-2019-06-01> [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].

Maniar, P., 2018. Youngsters are helping colleges upgrade syllabi, make them more relevant.
[online] Hindustan Times. Available at:
<https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/youngsters-are-helping-colleges-upgrade-syllabi-
make-them-more-relevant/story-Hf4ZN6p8H9HFsThnIYPlCO.html> [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].
Uttam, M., 2019. Draft National Education Policy 2019: Complete Details & Updates. [online]
Jagranjosh.com. Available at: <https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/draft-national-
education-policy-nep-1561925692-1> [Accessed 18 Aug. 2019].