The Government of India has initiated the process of establishing the nation’s first National Agricultural Education Policy (NAEP). This move, which began two months after the roll-out of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, aligns with the Prime Minister’s vision of extending farm education to middle school level. The proposed policy intends to extend academic credit banks and multiple entry exit degree courses to the 74 universities that specialize in crop sciences, fisheries, veterinary and dairy training and research.
Aligning Agricultural Education with NEP 2020
A key objective of the NAEP is to harmonize agricultural education with the NEP 2020. Academic Credit Banks feature as an important aspect of this alignment, potentially offering a credit recognition mechanism to integrate skills and experiences into a credit-based formal system. Digital storage of academic credits from recognized Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) could facilitate credit redemption, enhancing student mobility within the inter and intra university system.
Experiential Education and Its Importance
Emphasizing on experiential education, the National Education Policy 2020 echoes the teaching philosophy of the agricultural education system. This system mandates student participation in direct experience and focused reflection that fosters knowledge, skill development, value clarification, and community contribution. For instance, the Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) programme necessitates a six-month internship to provide students with hands-on training, rural awareness, industry expertise, research proficiency and entrepreneurship skills.
The Multiple Entry-Exit System
The proposed policy allows students the flexibility of multiple entries and exits during their degree programmes. This provision enables students to earn a diploma or an advanced diploma with the choice to resume their studies in due course, even leading to a full college degree.
Challenges and Issues
As it stands, the vision of the National Agricultural Education Policy faces several challenges, particularly around multidisciplinarity. The majority of agricultural universities, modeled on the land grant pattern, focus on research and extension along with in-depth community engagement. Recently established domain-specific universities specialising in horticulture, veterinary science and fisheries sciences will need to incorporate humanities and social sciences, posing a significant challenge to the policy implementation.
The Role of ICAR
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare), though responsible for maintaining education quality nationwide, will continue to play a key role under the new system of higher education regulation proposed by NEP 2020. However, there are concerns regarding its future involvement in accreditation and grant making under the new policy framework.