Discuss, debate, decide, disseminate and deliver to implement new education policy 2020 

Two-Day Virtual Conference on ‘Implementation of National Education Policy 2020 for Transforming India’ was inaugurated at Amity University by Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Government of India. More than 60 Vice Chancellors from across the country gathered to deliberate on the successful implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.   
 
Chief Guest Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Government of India shared that outlook of the deliberations in the two-day conference will prove to be an integral milestone in taking Indian education to greater heights. He stated that NEP 2020 is inclusive, national, international, interactive and impactful policy standing on equity & equality. He further asserted that the implementation of the policy lies with the educational leadership across the country.   
 
The Minister stressed on making ‘Study in India’ a brand across the globe. He also stated that ‘Stay in India’ initiative will also have increased focus inviting global, reputed institutions to come & establish their presence in India. He added that the new wave of education will reach its destination along with efforts to improve the GER in the country. He called for using the ‘5D’ model of Discuss, Debate, Decide, Disseminate & Deliver model will be needed to move ahead for implementation of NEP 2020 with teachers & students as their brand ambassadors. He reiterated that merging ‘Talent & Patent’ is needed to further the growth of the country. He asked the public & private universities to come together in making NEP 2020 a success and make the country an economic and global superpower.   
 
Guest of Honour, Dr. D.P. Singh, Chairman, UGC shared that NEP 2020 fulfils the aspiration & expectations of all the stakeholders of education, making it student friendly. Dr. Singh called for promoting multi-disciplinarily education by education institutions & stressed on collaborations across institutions. He further promoted the idea of tech enabled education with multi-disciplinary and inter -disciplinary approach for the holistic development of the students.  
 
Keynote Speaker Dr. Tej Pratap, President, Association of Indian Universities (AIU) & Vice Chancellor Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar shared that the challenge lies in implementation of the policy for getting the best output and transform the universities to prepare themselves for this mission. He shared that lot of preparation is required at the institutional level to witness practical impact & have detailed deliberations on the autonomy and financial aspects of NEP 2020.  He called the private universities to be the torchbearers of change in successfully implementing the NEP 2020.   
 
Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Founder President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation stressed that education will be key element to bring about a change and transform the nation, strengthening the ‘Stay in India’ & ‘Study in India’ mission of the government.   
 
Dr. Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, AUUP & President, RBEF stated that NEP 2020, approved after three decades, will transform the country and be of great benefit to the youth of the country. He added that the NEP 2020 is a student centric policy bringing a shift from teaching to learning and will guide them to upskill themselves for the future. He asserted that it will aid the students to transform from jobseekers to job creators. He averred that instead of being users of knowledge, one needs creators of knowledge further pushing the research outlook in the country.   
 
Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh (AUUP) welcomed all the esteemed dignitaries and shared how NEP 2020 will be the harbinger of change in the coming times. She added how it will lead to the transformation of India by creating a workforce for the future and how this conference will lead deliberations to bring about this change and successful implementation of the NEP 2020  
 
Addressing the session on ‘Improving Access, Equity and Affordability for Inclusiveness in Higher Education’, Dr. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU said that multi-subject is being promoted to provide equal opportunities and availability to all under the National Education Policy 2020. Referring to the government-run swayam, which is an open online curriculum platform, he said that it is a means of getting an excellent, inexpensive and accessible education for all. Prof. Seyed Ehtesham Hasnain, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard (Deemed to be University), New Delhi said that the four-year undergraduate programme, the easy way of admission and withdrawal from this national education policy created after a long gap of 34 years, is the best move through which students must benefit.  
  
Prof. (Dr.) Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Punjab) said that good teachers and good teaching system help in building an excellent student and cooperation between universities is a necessary step for the development of the students. Prof. Gurmeet Singh, Vice Chancellor, Pondicherry University, Puducherry said that this is the first India-centric policy and has been made as a means of empowering education. Prof. Shalini Bharat, Director / VC, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai said that availability, equality and affordability have been a challenge for every higher education policy in the world today.  
 
In the session on ‘Holistic and Multi-Disciplinary Higher Education through Conducive Learning Environment’, Dr. Rakesh Bhatnagar, Vice Chancellor, BHU, Varanasi stressed that multi-disciplinary higher education is important as being proposed by NEP 2020. Prof. C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat (Haryana) stated that the concept of multi-disciplinarily education need not be restricted to an institute. He added that NEP 2020 has approached the concept of multi-disciplinary education at various levels giving it lot of impetus.   
 
The two-day conference will deliberate on topics including ‘Reimagining Professional, Vocational and Teacher Education for Excellence’; ‘Digital Transformation in Higher Education and Research for Growth and Sustainability’; ‘Catalyzing Quality Academic Research and Innovation for Industry and Societal Benefit/ Wellbeing’; ‘Promoting Internationalisation for Transforming India as Global Education Hub’; ‘Effective Governance and Leadership for Higher Education Institutions’ and ‘Integration of Indian Knowledge System in Higher Education’.