Webinar with R. Natarajan
November 4 at 7:30 AM EST // 6 PM IST
The National Education Policy gives the nation an opportunity to review the past and chart out a future in consonance with the emerging global environment and the national aspirations; it can be employed to introduce new features and reforms. It has been 34 years since the last Policy was announced. The overarching intent of NEP 2020 is to: revamp the higher education system; create world-class multidisciplinary higher education institutions across the country; and increase the GER to at least 50% by 2035.
There are several challenges in planning and implementing education policies, and it is often necessary to handle trade-offs; such as between quality and excellence; and quantity and scaling up ; merit and equity; fund allocation for education and other requirements such as health, environment, infrastructure, and Defence, etc. However, balancing the different demands requires wisdom and pragmatism.
A complete overhaul of the regulatory system of Higher Education is proposed. The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) is proposed as an umbrella organization with four verticals : The first will be the National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC); the second vertical will be a ‘meta-accrediting body’, called the National Accreditation Council (NAC); the third will be the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), which will carry out funding and financing of higher education based on transparent criteria; and the fourth will be the General Education Council (GEC), which will frame expected learning outcomes for higher education programs, also referred to as ‘graduate attributes’.
Professional education will become an integral part of the overall higher education system. Preparation of professionals will involve an education in the ethics and importance of public purpose, an education in the discipline, and an education for practice.
The recent rise in epidemics and pandemics necessitates that we are ready with alternative modes of quality education whenever and wherever traditional and in-person modes of education are not possible.
The success of the Policy goals will depend on the effective implementation of the stated policies, and a bottoms-up series of actions are being contemplated for this purpose.
Presenter // R. Natarajan
R Natarajan served as The Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras from 1995 to 2001, and as the Chairman of The All India Council for Technical Education, a statutory body of the Government of India, from 2001 to 2004.
He was the Vice – President of The Indian National Academy of Engineering during 2002-2006, and the Chairman of the Research Council of the Central Fuel Research Institute, Dhanbad during 1995-2005. He was a Member of the India – China Eminent Persons Group during 2002-2004. He was, till recently, Chairman of the Board for IT Education Standards of Karnataka, and the Co-Chairman of the Engineering Education Forum of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.
He is a Fellow of: Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian Society for Technical Education, National Academy of Social Sciences, Institution of Engineers (India), Indian Institution of Plant Engineers, National Foundation of Indian Engineers, Indian Institution of Materials Management, and Madras Science Foundation.
He has been conferred Honorary Doctorate Degrees by: The University of South Australia, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (A.P.), Kanpur University(U.P.), Nagarjuna University (A.P.), Purvanchal University (U.P.) and NIT, Agartala.
He has been a Member of the Editorial Boards of: Fuel (London), Fuel Science and Technology, ASEE Journal of Engineering Education , International Journal of Engineering Education, Transformations in Engineering Education, Indian Journal of Technical Education, and Staff and Educational Development International; Editor of: The Journal of The Steam and Fuel Users’ Association of India, and The Journal of Plant Engineering.