A Critical Study of Nep 2020: Intentions for Implementation in Higher Education, Opportunity, Factors, Challenges

: The New Education Policy announced by Government of India (NEP 2020) was a welcoming alternate and sparkling news in between all the negativities surrounding the arena because of the demanding situations posed by Covid-19 pandemic. The statement of NEP 2020 was purely sudden by many ways. Though the education policy has impacted school and college education equally, this article particularly specializes in NEP 2020 and its effect on Higher Education. This paper additionally outlines the salient features of NEP and analyses how they affect the prevailing education system. The study also focuses on the issues and challenges faced by the policy for its implementation.

The Union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy (NEP) in July 2020.The policy has brought some changes into the education system of the country.One prominent change is to rename the Ministry of Human Resource Development as the Education Ministry.There were two policies been launched in 1968 and 1986 so it's the 3rd educational policy of independent India.Its aims at making "India a global knowledge superpower".As per article 21A of the Indian constitution the essence of every country lies in education, and without it, the country fails to survive.While addressing the issue regarding education NEP helps to the reduce gap in the education system between the elite and poor class people.It includes giving education to all groups inclusive to all castes and religion.(National Education Policy (NEP), 2020) MERITS OF NEW EDUCATION POLICY 2020 Comprehensive: NEP seeks to cope with the entire gamut of education from preschool to doctoral studies, and from professional degrees to vocational training.Early Childhood Education: In adopting a 5 3 3 4 model for school education beginning at age 3, the New education Policy recognizes the primacy of the formative years from ages 3 to 8 in shaping the child's future.Easy on Regulations: NEP 2020 makes an ambitious prescription to free our schools, colleges and universities from periodic "inspections" and area them on the route of self-evaluation and voluntary declaration.(silent features of NEP 2020: HIGHER EDUCATION) Holistic: The policy, the objectives to get rid of issues of pedagogy, structural inequities, get entry to asymmetries and rampant commercialization.Promote Inclusion: The Policy proposes the advent of 'inclusion funds' to assist socially and educationally deprived youngsters pursue education.(silent features of NEP 2020: HIGHER EDUCATION)

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
• To study and understand the intention of NEP 2020 implementation in Higher Education.
• To review the NEP 2020 and identify factors related to higher education.• To identify the major challenges for NEP 20202 implementation in higher education.

HIGHLIGHTS -HIGHER EDUCATION Regulatory Structure and Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions
In terms of Accreditation and Regulatory structure, the NEP recommended the subsequent changes: • Setting up NHERA (National Higher Education Regulatory Authority), • Separating NAAC from UGC into an independent and independent body.

National Research Foundation
In order to enhance the quality of research in India, the NEP recommended: • Establishment of a National Research Foundation.
• It would be an independent body that would administer the mentoring, investment and ability constructing for quality research in India.

Education Governance
• The NEP advocated setting up an apex frame for education headed by the Prime Minister under the name Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog or National Education Commission.• It also recommended changing the name of the Ministry of Human Resources & Development to the Ministry of Education.

Financing Education
• Doubling the public funding for education was one of the crucial suggestions of the NEP 2020.
• NEP 2020 insisted on the expenditure of 6% of the GDP on education.
• Doubling the current 10% of total public expenditure to 20% in the subsequent decade was encouraged.(disha IAS , 2020) Additional points 1. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to be raised to 50% by 2035 2. 26.3 % in 2018 to 50 % via the of means 2035 and pursuits to feature new seats to 3.5 crores in higher education institutions.3. To facilitate digital storage and transfer of credits earned from different Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) educational Bank of credit will be installed.4. The new policy offers more than one entry and exit factors with certificates at each level and envisages multidisciplinary education with a flexible curriculum and innovative combination of subjects.5. Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), to be set up to offer the best Multidisciplinary education of worldwide standards in the country, at par with IITs, IIMs.6.The National Research Foundation an umbrella body will be mounted to foster quality research throughout the country and enhance the overall research ecosystem.7. The whole higher education with the exception of legal and clinical education will come below the purview of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) with the intention to be set up as single Apex body.8.The identical set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and educational standards will be relevant to both public and private higher education institutions.9.In the imminent 15 years, the affiliation of colleges is to be phased out and the graded autonomy concept will be introduced to inspire wholesome competition among universities the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be set up to foster a free exchange of thoughts on the use of technology.10.Increase in public spending on education from around 4% to 6% of gross domestic product with the collective efforts of the center and the state government.(Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, 2020)

APPROACHES OF NEP 2020: 1. Curriculum and Content:
NEP seeks to change the existing structure from 10 + 2 to 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 structure.The main focus is on reducing the curriculum content and making space for critical and analytical thinking.Also, the objective is to provide 21 st Century Recent Trending Skills to the individuals.Hence, all the curriculum needs restructuring and reframing of the existing content.This brings in the requirement of Good Educators to accumulate and modify the content available in the form of books that's offline mode and also e-books that's online mode.Modifying the curriculum in accordance with National Curriculum Framework.

Teacher Availability & Training:
To deliver effective curriculum, schools and concerned authorities needs to provide training to teachers.
Understanding the pedagogical will help to make a smooth transition to the new education system.To foster collaborative skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving and decision-making abilities in the youth there's a dire need to shift focus from teacher-centered learning approach to student-centered learning approach.Experiential Learning and Concept-Oriented Learning is a challenging task.The teacher's remuneration needs to be revised for proper implementation of NEP 2020 Policy.According to a Study by 2030, 250 million students are estimated to enroll.

Technology:
Utilizing technology in making youth future ready is an important aspect considered in NEP 2020.Digital Infrastructure including digital classrooms, remote expertise-driven teaching models, AR/VR Tools are required to bridge gaps in physical teaching.It's quite challenging to have a proper setup to support these tools.The cost to be borne for developing digital infrastructure won't be affordable for all schools across the country.Also, in rural areas where internet connectivity is nearly absent placing digital learning tools is out of the question.

Examination Structure:
NEP focuses on formative assessment rather than summative assessment for learning.To promote continuous tracking of learning outcomes assessment system is being changed.The continuous Assessment Approach demands technological intervention and active involvement of teachers and students.Out of the 1.5 Million schools in India 75% are run by government.From the Remaining 4,00,000 private schools nearly 80% schools are budget private schools.Therefore, deploying this framework is a challenging task in such schools.(B.Venkateshwarlu, 2021)

Lack of integration:
In both the thinking, and in the report, there are lags, consisting of the integration of technology and pedagogy.There are large gaps including lifelong learning, which ought to a key element of upgrading to emerging sciences.

Language barrier:
There is a lot in the report ripe for debatealong with language.The NEP seeks to permit home language studying up to class five, with the purpose to enhance learning outcomes.Sure, early comprehension of concepts is better with inside the home language and is crucial for future progress.
If the rules aren't sound, learning suffers, despite the quality of teaching and infrastructure.But it is also true that a core aim of education is social and economic mobility, and the language of mobility in India is English.
Multilingualism debate: Home language succeeds in locations wherein the surroundings extend all the manner via higher education and into employment.Without such surroundings in place, this may not be suitable enough.The NEP speaks of multilingualism and that need to be emphasized.Most classes in India are de facto bilingual.Some states are blissfully thinking about this policy as a futile attempt to impose Hindi.

Lack of funds:
According to Economic Survey 2019-2020, the general public spending (through the Centre and the State) on education was 3.1% of the GDP.A shift in the cost structure of education is inevitable.While investment at 6% of GDP stays doubtful, it is feasible that components of the transformation are plausible at a lower cost for a greater scale.

A flow in haste:
The country is grappled with months of COVID-brought-on lockdowns.The policy had to have parliamentary discussions; it should have gone through a decent parliamentary debate and deliberations considering various opinions.
Overambitious: All aforesaid policy moves require substantial resources.A formidable goal of public spending at 6% of GDP has been set.

Pedagogical limitations:
The report talks about flexibility, preference, and experimentation.In higher education, the report acknowledges that there may be a range of pedagogical needs.If it is a mandated option inside single institutions, this will be a disaster, due to the fact structuring a curriculum for a study room that has both one-year diploma students and four-year degree students' takes away from the identity of the institution.
Institutional limitations: A wholesome education system will comprise of a diversity of institutions, not a pressured multi-disciplinarily one.Students must have a preference for distinctive types of institutions.
The policy risks creating a new type of institutional isomorphism mandated from the Centre.

Issues with examinations:
Exams are neurotic experiences due to competition; the outcomes of a mild slip in overall performance are large in terms of opportunities.So the solution to the examination conundrum lies with inside the structure of opportunity.India is some distance from that condition.This would require a less unequal society both in terms of access to quality institutions, and income differentials consequent upon access to those institutions.(B.Venkateshwarlu, 2021)

CHALLENGES OF NEP 2020: 1. Opening Universities is a herculean task:
To double the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education by 2035 is one of the stated goals of the policy which means that there's a need to open one new university every new week for next 15 years.

Numbers are not less daunting in reforms:
NEP 2020 intends to bring 2 Crore children who are currently not in schools back into school system.To achieve this target, implementation must start from now to setup 50 schools per week within 15 years.

Funding is a big challenge in post COVID era:
NEP 2020 foresees an increase in education spending from 4.6% to 6% of GDP, which amounts to around INR 2.5 lakh crores per year.

Current focus on healthcare and economic recovery to lower execution speed:
There's a strain on the exchequer in spite of that economists have been calling for large stimulus packages amounting to double digit percentages of GDP.(B.Venkateshwarlu, 2021)

OPPORTUNITIES
• The NEP 2020 paves the way in the direction of less regulation and more autonomy for establishments through an effective self-regulatory framework.Over-regulation has usually been practiced in Indian academic institutes in contrast to the western institutes who training self-regulation.Through NEP 2020 slow autonomy and accreditations will be granted to all higher education institutions.
• Foreign Universities will be allowed to installation campuses in India.It will promote research and convey flexible technique.The overseas universities would convey in programme and organization mobility.The concept of internationalization of higher education is based on the mobility of students, faculty members, programs, and institutions across countries.• The NEP 2020 goals at putting in place multidisciplinary establishments providing programs with outstanding teaching, research, and community engagement.This will advantage students with improved flexibility and preference of topics throughout diverse streams of arts, humanities, sciences, sports, and different vocational subjects.It will not be a simply academic and theoretical knowledge anymore.
• The new policy specializes in online and e-learning.Education has always been more of brick and mortar approach instead of technology-based.Online education will play an extensive role to bridge the space among the students and the institutes.In education what is complementary nowadays will become core.The digital world will become more real than the real world with digital and video centric approaches.• New Education Policy is not just about the degree.It is all about awareness on life competencies and vocational courses.It can be student centric technique wherein affordability and accessibility could be there and wherein the students can leverage the most out of education.Increased access, equity, and inclusion via open schooling, online schooling and Open Distance Learning will be promoted.

METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
The data collection done by using the secondary data method and the study was based on qualitative data method.Systematic review and study of NEP 2020 policy with respect to higher education program, its challenges, opportunities and issues the policy is facing currently in its implementation.The data includes the positive impact of introducing the NEP 2020 policy, focusing majorly on higher education while referring the repots, news articles, journal articles, and the other data which already published.

CONCLUSION:
The New Education Policy 2020 that has been proposed in the year 2020 is yet to be implemented.It is a bold move to revive the Indian education system with a present day approach.The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, is a great policy because it pursuits at making the education system holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary, aligned to the desires of the 21st century and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.No matter how good this may look, the implementation of any policy has its own importance.An efficient implementation can make a policy a massive achievement.The assessment paper discusses the demanding situations and troubles with inside the implementation of NEP 2020.Many other factors were mentioned in this review paper and every factor is authentic in its very own term.The analysis of the goods and bads is very crucial to point out.The NEP 2020 may also look appropriate on the paper however it is plenty more complex in a Real -world environment.The purpose of policy appears to be ideal in lots of ways however it is the implementation where the key to success lies