Indian Council of Agriculture Research has set up a six-member committee under the direction of Dr. Tej Pratap, Vice-Chancellor of the GB Pant University of Agriculture in Uttarakhand to advise on the methods in which agricultural institutions can be helped to grow and develop in sync with the NEP 2020.

The courses that are put forward by agriculture varsities will have a more flexible structure and these institutions will be emboldened and driven to become inter-disciplinary. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has through the six-member committee initiated the process to re-align the farm and agri-education in India in line with the vision and spirit of the NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 as enunciated by the centre.

A government official stated, “Agricultural education is a state subject. Hence, the guidance and a road map will be adapted in view of this. The goal is to bring agricultural-education to a level where it can address simultaneous and future needs.” Apart from making the courses more flexible in-line with the NEP2020, more inter-disciplinary activity and stressing on the research and related areas are the points that the committee is looking at.

Deputy Director-General (Education) at ICAR, Dr. R C Aggarwal, who is also the convener of the committee confirmed that the panel was looking for methods to bring agri-education in sync with the vision and spirit of NEP. Notably, the NEP also envisions that the professional councils, such as the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) will act as Professional Standard-Setting Bodies (PSSBs) and shall be members of the General Education Council (GEC) to frame the anticipated learning outcomes for higher education.

The ICAR-Agricultural University (AU) system amidst its network of 74 universities extends degree courses at the Undergraduate level in 11 disciplines. The PG programmes in 96 disciplines and Ph.D. programmes in 73 disciplines make it multi-disciplinary as needed by NEP 2020.

The author is a member of Amity center of Happiness