UGC chief’s poser to teachers: Are you ready for NEP reforms
New Delhi, November 19
UGC chief M Jagadesh Kumar has said teachers in the Indian higher education system need to change their attitudes for National Education Policy 2020 reforms to be implemented.
Addressing “Gyanotsav”, an event on the challenges for NEP Implementation, being organised in the capital by RSS affiliate Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, Kumar said most teachers came from a system that lacked flexibility and that was a challenge.
Noting that implementing the NEP 2020 was like scaling Mount Everest which required preparation and mental conditioning, Kumar said, “We need to bring about a change in our attitudes to implement the NEP. There are 15 lakh teachers in our higher education system. Are they prepared to implement the reforms we are suggesting in NEP 2020?”
Kumar went on to say that he saw a challenge on the front of teachers.
“Most of the teachers have come from a system where there is a lack of flexibility. They come from a system where working in teams is unheard of, communicating with each other is unheard of. We work as individuals in silos and that is what we need to break,” the UGC chief said, urging teachers to prepare students to challenge authority, be it their own or of textbooks or established theorems.
That is the only way to create new knowledge, he said at the event which was also addressed by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and MoS for Electronics Chandrashekhar.
Kumar said there were 300 million students in the 15 to 25 year age group and 40 million were enrolled in higher educational institutions.
“Students want to be learners. How do we stand up to their aspirations? We need to look into ourselves.
I urge teachers and academicians to look into our inner capabilities and where we lack to prepare ourselves to implement NEP 2020,” he said.
Kumar added that the UGC was working very seriously to create an Indian Digital University to reach students who cannot come to physical institutions to study.
He further asked all institution heads to draw a roadmap for NEP implementation rather than “await UGC guidelines”.
You are all autonomous, he said to educational institution heads.
