‘NEP-2020 will help make higher education accessible to masses’

Lucknow: New Education Policy (NEP)-2020 is a visionary policy that claims to offer a pill for every ill that has been corroding the Indian education system for decades now. The policy, however, is not immune to the apparent pitfalls. These views were shared by noted educationists and researchers during a plenary session on the hits and misses of NEP at the Giri Institute of Development Studies (GIDS).
“Since the time of the post-Mauryan empire, higher education has been limited to a certain class.NEP does well in answering back and giving a roadmap for making higher education accessible to the masses,” said president of IEA Dr AK Pandey.
“NEP aims to bring the ethos of education that made the Europeans call India the light of Asia. The focus on Gyana (knowledge), darshan (perspective), and vidya (discipline) promises to promote holistic education that creates a generation of quality learners who develop the ability to reason, question, and innovate,” said Dhananjay Singh, member secretary at Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).
Educationists also pointed out that the NEP-2020 is marred by practical challenges and structural inconsistencies.
“For instance, the country’s budgetary allocation to education has been hovering around a mere 3% of the total GDP regardless of the recommendation made in 1964 to increase it to 6%. And of this investment, miniscule is directed towards research,” pointed out Dr Ajay Prakash, former vice-chancellor of Shri Ramswaroop University.
“We lack quality research. And for good research to take off, investments are needed,” said Nasik-based professor Sanjay Tupe.