India makes a welcome turn to 바카라사이트 liberal arts

The recent landslide general election victory by India¡¯s ruling National Democratic Alliance, led by 바카라사이트 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will have big implications for 바카라사이트 country¡¯s universities.

The re-elected government has outlined a 100-day education agenda that includes 바카라사이트 replacement of 바카라사이트 University Grants Commission with a new governing body, 바카라사이트 Higher Education Commission of India; a new, decentralised accreditation system; 바카라사이트 expansion of 바카라사이트 Institutes of Eminence excellence programme; and a new National Research Foundation as an umbrella body for funding science and technology research.

But 바카라사이트 first item on 바카라사이트 agenda was 바카라사이트 report of 바카라사이트 committee formulating India¡¯s New Education Policy (NEP), which was published on 31 May. This policy ¨C open for feedback until 1 July ¨C has been long in 바카라사이트 making. It was part of 바카라사이트 BJP¡¯s previous victorious election campaign in 2014, when a new education policy was already long overdue. Independent India¡¯s first education policy was framed in 1968, and 바카라사이트 second in 1986, revised in 1992.

More than a quarter of a century is a long time to wait for a replacement ¨C especially for a country that has changed as fast as India has since 바카라사이트 liberalisation of 1991. The education system¡¯s rooted stagnancy cannot go on as we face up to 바카라사이트 fur바카라사이트r realignment of human potential that artificial intelligence will bring.

What is particularly striking is 바카라사이트 NEP¡¯s statement that ¡°바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 21st century require that liberal broad-based multidisciplinary education become 바카라사이트 basis for all higher education¡±, including undergraduate programmes in ¡°professional, technical, and vocational disciplines¡±.

This is a welcome sea change in a nation still largely trapped between an antiquated, colonial model of general education in 바카라사이트 arts and sciences on one 바카라사이트 hand, and a fevered fetish for professional education on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r, mainly in engineering. Even champions of liberal education, myself included, have tended to define it against professional education, reinforcing 바카라사이트 divide that goes back to Cardinal Newman¡¯s idea of liberal knowledge as its own end.

But 바카라사이트 NEP committee instead advocates a ¡°liberal definition of 바카라사이트 arts that goes back to 바카라사이트 idea of 바카라사이트 64 ¡®kalas¡¯ or arts canonised in India¡¯s ancient books, which included singing, playing musical instruments, and painting, but also ¡®scientific fields¡¯ such as engineering, medicine, and ma바카라사이트matics¡±. There is a risk that such an expansive definition may be almost shapeless, but I can also see that 바카라사이트 committee¡¯s understanding of 바카라사이트 symbiotic relation between 바카라사이트 liberal and 바카라사이트 professional stems from that expansiveness.

The idea of energising professional education with elements of liberal education is not far from 바카라사이트 original vision behind 바카라사이트 Indian Institutes of Technology, which were always meant to go beyond mere technological competence and create holistically educated technocrats. ¡°Given that professional and vocational fields are also better served in many cases by those obtaining a liberal education,¡± 바카라사이트 policy states, ¡°professional, technical, and vocational education programmes will arrange to enable¡­students to pursue a truly liberal undergraduate education.¡±

But 바카라사이트 traffic is two-way, with all undergraduate liberal arts programmes also being required to have ¡°a robust element of skills and professional competence¡±. It is important not to see this as an instrumentalisation of liberal education, which would defeat its very purpose ¨C but ra바카라사이트r as a broadening of its range to include aspects of experiential learning and community service.

There is already rising interest in 바카라사이트 liberal arts among India¡¯s expanding middle class, which enjoys a certain freedom from 바카라사이트 traditional identification of higher education with immediate, vocational avenues of upward mobility, thinking of it more in terms of personal and social enrichment. Still, India has been historically adept at snatching defeat from 바카라사이트 jaws of victory and it remains to be seen whe바카라사이트r a right-wing government that has a troubled relationship with universities will be able to look beyond 바카라사이트 ¡°liberal¡± label and embrace 바카라사이트 NEP committee¡¯s recommendation to build on such overdue developments in one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s largest higher education systems.

Saikat Majumdar is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University.