Dr K S Chandrasekar
India has now about 1200 universities which caters to about four crore students. The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has ushered in the needed change that is required among the students to be employable and be an employer. It is reported that 48.7% of university graduates are unemployable. One of the major reasons for the same is that students were focussing on narrow subjects and trying to excel in the same. However, the NEP has changed the whole scenario. NEP provides for developing the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values on which societies rely, forging social cohesion and preparing people to become and remain as active citizens.
While a graduate is confined to his institution, they are not given opportunities to work along with others. In this context, NEP offers a multitude of facets like Major courses, Minor courses, Skill enhancement courses, Value added courses and Ability enhancement courses. There is a paradigm shift in the way students look at the courses and they could now learn from other departments which was hitherto not allowed. Multi-disciplinary focus is on the high. There is an urgent need to evolve our education system to catch up and produce such leaders who can make sense of this disruptive change and show a direction.
The Indian knowledge systems, is the strength of India, which kept the education relevant and the country forward in changing times through millennia. It is time to delve deeper into them and incorporate those principles into the curriculum. India has a knowledge tradition of several millennia. It is a civilization that stayed ahead of the rest of the world due to the highly evolved ways of thinking and the class rooms will become the place from where the legacy, heritage and the greatness need to be deliberated and discussed. An autonomous higher education institution that has the ability to produce leaders through innovation in curriculum and pedagogy is needed. It is already too late.
We need to produce social, political and philosophical leaders who can navigate the changing world and lead India to the Vikasit Bharat. We are now facing mega-challenges like climate change, impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovative technologies, mass migration and global taxation. People seem to have lost control and technology has taken over. It is important to find ways to sustain innovation in education and re-affirm that investment in education is an investment in the future of prosperity and the wellbeing of society. Digital technologies and evolving attitudes are set to drive a radical transformation and disintermediation by 2050 and the traditional wisdom and knowledge needs to be part of it. Digital technologies can create new learning opportunities for those who are not able to enrol in formal education and enable reaching new populations. These include older people, youth who are not in employment, education, or training (NEETs), and people with special needs. Technology can also enable educators and learners to access knowledge in multiple formats, and in ways that bridge time and space and at a lower cost. Empowering them can take India to the path of developed nation with more productivity and life enhancement. Technology can build communities of learners that make learning more collaborative, thereby enhancing goal orientation, motivation, persistence, and the development of effective learning strategies. Similarly, technology can build communities in which the learned share and enrich educational resources and practices and collaborate on professional growth and the institutionalisation of professional practice.
“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it” quoted Marian Wright Edelman. This brings us the importance of Social internships for the graduates. This needs to be implemented in the colleges where they are confined to. This will provide space for them to interact with the society, learn and unlearn practices. Some of the important areas that can be addressed through these internships are the interface with society and the stakeholders of the education. We are living in societies where there is a crunch for resources including man power. This is where the graduate students can actually step in. All the colleges have NCC, NSS, Scouts and Cadets. There are clubs like Interact club which is part of the Rotary clubs. All students need to be exposed to the growing issues in the society and be a responsible citizen. According to Mahatma Gandhi, “An education which does not teach us to discriminate between good and bad, to assimilate the one and eschew the other, is a misnomer”. This is where social internships gain traction.
Social internships for a semester during graduation will ensure that they have a connect with the society and appreciate the issues and challenges in the society. They also will understand the difficulties faced by civil servants including the police. The following areas can be tapped for the social internships like Traffic regulations, Anti-Drug campaigns, Antibiotic misuses, literacy campaigns, Health and wellness campaigns etc.
At Cluster University of Jammu, steps have been taken to ensure that Traffic regulations and helping the Traffic police to streamline the traffic during peak hours have been given the focus for including the Skill enhancement course with suitable credits. This initiative is with the support of J&K Police. There will be a MOU signed with J&K Police by Cluster University of Jammu to help them in the process and those students who are willing to be part of the campaign with the consent of the parents will be included in the first stage. Those who are already in the NCC, NSS etc., will be given the first option. During the meeting with the Principals of the prestigious constituent colleges, a decision has been taken to dwell deep into this concept and plan for implementing the same during the fourth semester. There is a great learning for the students as they will know how to take decisions in crucial situations, stress management, time management, understanding the societal requirements there by learning new skills and attitudes.
A basket of such courses will be on offer that could change the very persona of the students and allow them to make changes in future for the betterment of the society, care for the down trodden, elderly and the like. Similar is the case with more social issues like anti-drug campaigns, gender inequity, antibiotic misuses etc. The steps will be taken to include all these into social internships along with those interested in doing internships in organisations/institutions as deliberated in the PM internship schemes. A comprehensive report will be presented in the academic council for approval and for implementation in the days to come for the overall benefit of the society. Chanakya quoted that “Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth” and when they are involved closely with the society, the benefits accrue to the society and the individuals themselves and is a synergistic effect.
(The author is Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu, Jammu)
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