After 3 years, educational institutes review NEP

 Hyderabad: As the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 completes its third anniversary, prominent educational institutions, including IIT Hyderabad, University of Hyderabad, and Directorate of Skill Development, gathered to reflect on its implementation.

During a media interaction, the institutions highlighted that the NEP’s execution had led to the incorporation of skill development, experiential learning, online courses, and apprenticeship programs in their respective curricula.

Prof. B.S. Murthy, IIT-H director, said the institute had promoted entrepreneurship by supporting student innovations through the BUILD (Bold & Unique Ideas Leading Development) projects. Students were given a semester break with six credits to pursue these innovative ventures. He listed the Technology Research Park (TRP) for industries and the Technology Incubation Park (TIP) for start-ups and Fractal Academics, which offered courses with credits ranging from 0.5 to 3.

Prof. B. Jagdeeshwar Rao, U0H Vice Chancellor, said NEP facilitated the adoption of regulations enabling students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously. To this end, the university had introduced new courses such as “Introduction to Gender Studies,” “Value-Based Education,” “NGOs and Nation Building,” and others.

Vidyanand, the joint director of the Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrep-reneurship of Telangana state (RDSDE), explained that the institute focused on equipping students with practical and educational skills through the integration of vocational education into general education.

He further added, “Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 2022-23), schools, higher education institutions, colleges, universities, institutions of national repute, etc. are being onboarded as ‘Skill Hubs,’ leveraging their existing infrastructure and domain experience to provide quality training under PMKVY. Today, there are close to 1,000 Skill Hubs with 1 lakh candidates enrolled in them. About 2,000+ institutions have been allocated targets, including institutions of national repute such as IITs, IIITs, NITs, and central universities.”

Learning curve:

• * The NEP led to the incorporation of skill-development, experiential learning, online courses, and apprenticeship programs in the curricula of the institutions.
• * IIT Hyderabad supported entrepreneurship through the BUILD (Bold & Unique Ideas Leading Development) projects.
• * Technology Research Park (TRP) for industries and Technology Incubation Park (TIP) for Startups were established to encourage innovation with industry support.
• * University of Hyderabad adopted regulations allowing students to pursue two academic programs simultaneously.
• * Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana onboarded schools, higher education institutions, colleges, and universities as “Skill Hubs” to provide quality training, with about 1000 Skill Hubs and 1 lakh candidates enrolled.