New national education policy in three phases, says Maharashtra task force – Times of India

From proposing a transition from a three-year bachelor’s programme to a three- or four-year programme with the focus in the final year on research, to offering university status to a large group of institutions with proven academic record, the committee has made several recommendations in the short-term implementation plan, which will not require financial resources. In the long-term plan, it has endorsed offering universal free digital rights to all learners in the state. The report of the task force has been submitted to the government and will be tabled in the cabinet soon.

The 19-member task force was constituted in October last year under the chairmanship of scientist Raghunath Mashelkar. It has identified 18 provisions in NEP that can be immediately implemented through simple directives. Offering a plan for a four-year degree programme, starting post-doctoral programmes in universities, enabling digital adjunct faculty for foreign universities on board and enabling provisions for rationalisation of fees and reforming fee regulatory policies are included. The need to define a dual-degree mode of operation and collaboration, and creation of an academic bank of credits was included in the medium-term plan, which needs some funds.

Mashelkar told TOI NEP has given an opportunity to rethink, reimagine and reinvent the education system. “One of the important recommendations we have made is to completely transform digital education. We are recommending free digital devices and infrastructure to all learners, along with free access to digital learning, assessment, and employment resources. The idea is to provide an end-to-end digital solution to students,” said Mashelkar. The report estimates an annual investment for state-wide digital transformation to be around Rs 3,000 crore for about 30 lakh student beneficiaries, starting from 10 lakh in 2022-23. This comes to around Rs 10,000 annually per child, which is just a 12-18% increase from current costs, it states.

Former Mumbai University vice-chancellor Rajan Welukar, who was chairman of the subcommittee for curriculum, said they have suggested a flexible, futuristic empowering curriculum. Niranjan Hiranandani, member, task force, and provost, HSNC University, said, “The report emphasises on training students in some vocation by taking a multi-disciplinary approach… Even if they drop out in between, they will be equipped with a diploma or a degree.”