On the occasion of Engineers’ Day, IIT Jodhpur organised an online workshop on ‘National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Action Points for IITs.’ The workshop took place in the esteemed presence of Sh. Rakesh Ranjan, Additional Secretary, Technical Education, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, along with eminent speakers, Prof. R. K. Shevgaonkar, Professor Emeritus, IIT Bombay, and Former Director, IIT Delhi, and Prof. Sarit Kumar Das, Institute Chair Professor, IIT Madras, and Former Director, IIT Ropar.

Welcoming the eminent speakers, prof. Santanu Chaudhary, director, IIT Jodhpur, said, “I am thankful to the key speakers for joining us and contributing in this workshop on NEP 2020 and Action points for IITs. I am delighted to say that IITs over the years have implemented multidisciplinary curriculum to address the need of the hour. Since its inception, IIT Jodhpur has encouraged its students for design thinking and when the NEP 2020 was announced we found our undergraduate programme resonating with its vision. The unique framework of IIT Jodhpur gives its students the freedom to curate their own programmes. Our collaboration with AIIMS Jodhpur for the Master’s Medical Technology Program is helping us in building a strong multidisciplinary foundation for the future.”

NEP 2020 is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India. After its approval by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020, there has been discussion on various forums to find various ways for its effective implementations.  

Highlighting the unique aspects of NEP 2020, Sh. Rakesh Ranjan, additional secretary, technical education, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, said, “National Education Policy 2020 acknowledges the need for alternate pathways to learning. NEP 2020 emphasises on the flexibility and higher mobility for faculty & students; research, innovation & entrepreneurship; multidisciplinary education; internationalisation of education; providing opportunities to students of regional languages, and vocational education and its integration with higher education. For the same, we need the IITs to expand its reach of knowledge sharing through online courses and programmes and improve industry-academia linkages by utilising National Research Foundation.”

“The multidisciplinary program culture of IITs is a progressive element to provide wider spectrum of courses to students. NEP 2020 promotes the use of technology in teaching, learning and assessment resulting in improved governance reforms”, added Sh. Ranjan during his address.

Universal high-quality education is important for developing and maximizing talents and resources for the good of the individual and society. With the quickly changing employment landscape and global ecosystem, education must build character, enable learners to be ethical, rational, compassionate, and caring, while at the same time prepare them for gainful, fulfilling employment.

Prof. R. K. Shevgaonkar, professor emeritus, IIT Bombay, and former director, IIT Delhi, and key speaker at the workshop said, “The earlier higher education system was severely fragmented with less emphasis on the development of cognitive skills and learning outcomes. With limited teacher and institutional autonomy, and fewer higher education institutes to teach in local languages resulted in large affiliating universities resulting in low standards of Undergraduate education. The admirable aspects of NEP 2020 including National Research Foundation, Educational Leadership and Teacher Training Programs, Academic Flexibility and Enhanced Liberal Arts Component, will address all these issues from the earlier system. With the future of education being technology-dominated, the Engineering Education will focus on innovation, creativity and multidisciplinary thinking to solve the grand challenges.”

National Education Policy 2020 envisions an India-centric education system that contributes directly to transforming our nation sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society. The policy aims to transform India’s education system by 2040 by providing high-quality education to all.

Also Read: IIT Jodhpur inks MoU with WhizHack Technologies for setting up CoE in Cyber Security