Foreign universities can now set up campus, teachers unhappy

NEW DELHI: The newly approved National Education Policy (NEP) has evoked sharp reactions in different quarters. While some tout it as a positive course for the future, many others are concerned about some of the new provisions, particularly the idea of graded autonomy of institutes.
Among the major changes envisioned in NEP are of an undergraduate degree of either 3- or 4-year duration, with multiple exit options, higher education institutions moving away from examinations towards more continuous and comprehensive evaluation, and establishments of multidisciplinary universities and colleges offering instruction in local and Indian languages.
Najma Akhtar, VC, Jamia Millia Islamia, was happy that NEP would create new opportunities for students. “They can pursue education with greater flexibility and can enter, exit and re-enter as per convenience and career choices,” she said. With NEP also focusing on online and distance education, Akhtar added this would “ramp up digital learning in India” after the Union HRD ministry had “already created a foundation through SWAYAM, the open courses online platform, for the construction of dynamic verticals”.
Stating that “NEP is a step forward”, JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said that “NEP, being the outcome of an extensive and inclusive consultation process, builds the foundation of India’s promising future.”
However not all shared Kumar’s optimism. DU Teachers’ Association opposed the proposal to “dismember universities and hand over every higher educational institution to a board of governors, which will enjoy all powers hitherto vested in the governing authorities of colleges and universities as well as UGC and other regulating bodies.”
NEP’s plans to allow foreign universities to set up campuses on Indian ones have also met with strong objections. Indian National Teachers’ Congress convenor Pankaj Garg argued, “Allowing foreign universities to operate in India on their own norms is permitting foreign direct investment in education. This means the Centre is running away from its responsibility of funding educational institutions. This will result in fees for the students becoming exorbitant.”
Calling NEP “a policy of tall ends with little means”, Delhi University Executive Council member Rajesh Jha said that the new policy cannot be trusted when the Union budget allocation for education is just 6%. He also had doubts about graded autonomy for colleges. “This will be linked to differential grant dispersal and the reduction in the grants will shift the financial burden to the students, thus increasing the cost of education. The overall direction of NEP is towards shifting from grant-based to loan-based and promoting private players and foreign universities,” Jha remarked.
Student groups like SFI and JNU Students’ Union have announced protest actions against the implementation of the policy.