NEP promotes interdisciplinary higher education

Source: The post NEP promotes interdisciplinary higher education has been created, based on the article “Giving shape to the university of the future” published in “The Hindu” on 12 April 2025. NEP promotes interdisciplinary higher education.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2-Governance-Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education, Human Resources.

Context: The National Education Policy (NEP) aims to transform India’s fragmented higher education system by promoting large multidisciplinary institutions. This shift focuses on encouraging cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary education and research to address real-world challenges more effectively.

For detailed information National Education Policy, 2020 – Provisions and Significance read this article here

Vision of NEP for higher education transformation

1. Integrate Disciplines: Replace isolated disciplines with a unified framework allowing interaction and integration of multiple fields within academic programs.
2. Encourage Interdisciplinary Learning: Support cross-disciplinary collaboration to solve complex problems. For example, IITs are expanding humanities and social sciences departments alongside technical fields.
3. Create Multidisciplinary Universities: Target of establishing at least one such university in or near every district by 2030 to enhance access and promote diverse educational environments.
4. Foster Research and Dialogue: Promote a pedagogical shift towards discussion, debate, and research across disciplines.

Differences between multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary approaches

1. Multidisciplinary: Multiple disciplines coexist within the same project or program without actively interacting. Each discipline maintains its methods and perspectives independently, such as in an educational institution hosting separate departments under one roof.
2. Cross-disciplinary: Involves collaboration between different disciplines without integrating their knowledge bases. An example from the article is an educationist and economist co-authoring a research paper. This approach fosters dialogue but stops short of blending disciplinary insights.
3. Interdisciplinary: Integrates ideas, methods, and tools from various disciplines to solve complex problems. The article cites an integrated approach in fields like biotechnology and medicine, where knowledge from chemistry and biology is combined, leading to innovative solutions and knowledge synthesis.

Multidisciplinary campuses creation or expansion

1. Adding Departments: Institutions like IITs are broadening academic offerings by incorporating humanities and social sciences, and offering integrated master’s programs in economics and allied fields.
2. Clustering Institutes: Merge existing single-discipline institutions into cluster universities. For example, a commerce college may join with arts and science colleges. This is cost-effective and resource-efficient but requires administrative restructuring.
3. District-Wide Expansion: The NEP plans one multidisciplinary university in or near each district by 2030. Establishing a single-campus university per district is more efficient than spreading campuses across locations

Cross-disciplinary learning promotions in universities

1. Course Diversification: Encourage students to explore subjects outside their core disciplines to gain broader perspectives.
2. Collaborative Projects: Promote projects involving multiple departments. For example, a course titled “Economic changes and class structures in Indian cinema” developed jointly by economics, sociology, and film studies faculties.
3. Funding and Support: Ensure long-term financial backing for such initiatives. The NSF’s IGERT program in the U.S. is a model, offering structured interdisciplinary training with both depth and breadth.
4. Administrative Reforms: Institutions must adopt governance structures that support and institutionalize cross-disciplinary teaching and research.

Challenges in achieving interdisciplinary research

1. Publication and Career Paths: Fields such as engineering and architecture face difficulties finding suitable publication venues for interdisciplinary research, which affects academic careers.
2. Institutional Bias: Academic and research institutions often favor discipline-specific studies, limiting interdisciplinary integration.
3. Funding and Support: Interdisciplinary projects require sustainable funding models, similar to the NSF’s IGERT program in the US, which are not yet widely implemented in India.
4. Cultural Resistance: There is often resistance within academic communities towards integrating methods and concepts across disciplines.
5. Regulatory and Administrative Hurdles: Necessary changes in faculty hiring, promoting practices, and governance structures are needed to support interdisciplinary efforts.

Question for practice:

Examine how the National Education Policy promotes interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches in higher education.