Report of the Six Member Committee  
                              on 
        National Education Policy 2020 and Kerala 
                                
                                
                                
                                
         
         
                                      
         
         
         
          The Kerala State Higher Education Council 
                    Thiruvananthapuram 
                        November 2020 
                                
                                
                                
                                                  
             
                                                  
                                                  
                                              Index 
             
             
             
            Section – I 
            NEP: General Observations                                       1-12 
             
             
             
            Section – II 
            National Education Policy 2020 and Higher Education in Kerala   13-19 
             
             
             
            Addendum 
            Research and Innovation in the HE sector in Kerala –  
            Problems and Prospects –                                        20-28 
             
             
            Appendix – I 
            Salient Features of NEP 2020: Higher Education                  1-22 
                         
             
                                                  
                                                     
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                             
        
                             
                        
                        
                       FOREWORD 
                        
                        
          On July 29, 2020, the Union cabinet gave its approval to a document The National 
       Education Policy 2020  which was to replace the earlier policy of 1986. However, since 
       education belongs to the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, a 
       national education policy can be finalized only through the concurrence of both the Centre and 
       the states. And as state governments had not been consulted during the preparation of the new 
       document released by the Centre, it was felt that this document now had to be debated by the 
       state governments before a final National Education Policy could be evolved, based on their 
       reactions. 
          To help this debate, the Kerala State Higher Education Council set up a small 
       Committee of literati and educationists under my Chairpersonship to prepare a report on the 
       Centre’s document. What follows is the text of our report.  
          I would like to thank the many scholars who attended a day-long conference called by 
       the Kerala State Higher Education Council to discuss the Central document. I would also like 
       to thank those who gave us comments when our draft report was put up for public discussion. 
       Their inputs helped us greatly. Finally, we are grateful to the KSHEC for their help in 
       preparing this report. 
                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                     Prof. Prabhat Patnaik 
                                          (Chairman) 
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                                                                     
                 
                                                                     
                                       Report of the Six Member Committee 
                                                                  on 
                              National Education Policy 2020 and Kerala 
                                                                     
                The Kerala State Higher Education Council formed a six -member committee to study and 
                report on the New Education Policy 2020 approved by the Centre. The committee was 
                appointed to scrutinise the recommendations in the new policy, with special reference to Kerala 
                and on matters pertaining to higher education. The committee was entrusted to consider the 
                views of all sections of society including University /College teachers on the matter before 
                submitting their views to the Council. Following are the members of the Committee. 
                 
                1    Prof.PrabhatPatnaik           Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi 
                     (Chairman) 
                2    Prof.RajanGurukkal P.M.  Vice Chairman, KSHEC 
                3    Dr.GanganPrathap              National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and 
                                                   Technology (NIIST) 
                4    Prof.K.Sachithanandan         Writer 
                5    Dr.Kumkum Roy                 Centre for Historical Studies, JNU 
                6    Dr. Rajan Varughese           Member Secretary, KSHEC (Convenor) 
                 
                Section-I is a general estimate of the policy perspectives of NEP. Section-II takes up specific 
                issues that need to be taken up for discussion with the Central Government/ Central regulatory 
                authorities with a view to the implementation of NEP in Kerala and Section – III is a note on 
                Research and Innovation in the HE sector in Kerala - Problems and Prospects.  
                 
                                                             Section - I  
                                                 NEP: General Observations 
                                                                     
                Introduction 
                    
                NEP 2020 replaces the thirty-four year old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. , This 
                policy is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; its professed aim is to 
                transform India into a “vibrant knowledge society” and “global knowledge superpower” by 
                making both school and college education more “holistic, flexible and multidisciplinary”, 
                suited to 21st century needs and  bring out the “unique capabilities of each student”. The 
                National Education Policy 2020 was expected to objectively review the achievements and 
                failures of the previous National Policies on Education, assess the new challenges that have 
                emerged in the intervening years, and articulate a vision that can robustly connect ground 
                realities and democratic aspirations to Constitutional directives.  
                        Despite the claims stated above, the NEP has failed to identify and address the socio-
                economic challenges that have daunted India’s educational progress. While the cost of 
                quality education continues to rise, particularly with the advent of self financing educational 
                institutions, an increasing number of pupils is forced to drop out even before completing a 
                minimum level of education. Scientific temper is steadily on a decline and civic values are