Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on June 3 ceremonially launched the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in higher education institutions of Assam at a programme held in Gauhati University.
NEP 2020 provides a set of guiding principles for a paradigm shift across the education sector in India from school to doctoral level.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sarma said, “The NEP was envisioned under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of preparing our youth for the future and its adoption marks a historic day for Assam. As part of the policy, we should focus on imparting multi-disciplinary education and preparing our students in a holistic and enabling environment.”
He said that the State Government has been taking committed steps from the very start to implement this education policy, which are gradually turning into reality. “In the journey for academic excellence in Assam, these initiatives will become milestones in the coming days,” he said.
He observed that NEP 2020 is the first education policy that challenges compartmentalisation in higher education and supports framing higher education with a multi-disciplinary approach. “For the first time, liberal education has been proposed where rigid distinctions across streams like Science, Arts, Commerce, etc., have been removed.
Welcoming the development, Prof Alak Buragohain, a former Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh University, and now Chancellor of a private university, said that it will be a game changer for higher education in the country.
“The proposal to offer education in a broad and flexible system shall enlarge the scope of studying many different subjects which is at present not possible. The mechanism of Credit Transfer shall facilitate increased mobility for students across higher education institutions of the country. The scope for multiple entry and exit in the graduate programme shall reduce the dropout rates and facilitate higher study with ease. The focus on skill and vocational education shall certainly open avenues for entrepreneurship for the youth,” he told Asom Barta.
“It will take the country a long way by enabling the youth of Assam along with the rest of the country, in availing the infinite opportunities coming in the wake of the fourth Industrial Revolution – Industry 4.0. This has far-reaching implications for the youth of the State and for the economy of the region,” Buragohain told this reporter.
Later in June, while attending a conclave on implementation of National Education Policy 2020 held at Assam Administrative Staff College under the aegis of Raj Bhawan, the Assam Chief Minister exhorted the State’s academic fraternity to work for transforming Assam into an educational hub in Eastern India.
Speaking on the first day of the conclave, Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria said that NEP has envisioned an education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all.
Minister in the NEP Conclave.
Dr. Ramesh Chandra Deka, Vice Chancellor of Cotton University, expressed his confidence that the outcome of NEP 2020 will be for all to cherish.
“We built a solid foundation for the creation of a Vishwa Guru Bharat while designing NEP-2020. We are conscious that to achieve this, we must work to create a new, independent India, I have no doubt that India will eventually become ‘Vishwa Guru’, thanks to this well-conceived policy,” he told this newsletter.
