The UGC has developed draft guidelines on Institutional Development Plan (IDP) for higher education institutions (HEIs) as part of NEP 2020. Suggestions on the same have been invited from stakeholders by February 11, 2022. While educators agree with the spirit of the document, they say that each HEI has a long journey to finalise independent policies and framework.

About the IDP


JN Baliya, head of department, Education Studies and Mass Communication & New Media, Central University of Jammu (CUJ), says, “Currently, there is a huge disparity between the UGC as the central policymaking body and a common framework applicable across HEIs. The IDP aims to decentralise the education system, with HEIs becoming autonomous and accountable.”

“The path for each independent institute to link divergent systems and bring it under a common policy to benefit students will be time and cost consuming. However, long-term benefits will help raise the standard of the Indian education system to global levels,” he adds.

Faculty recruitment, motivation

Yogesh Singh, vice-chancellor (VC), University of Delhi (DU), says, “The UGC guidelines emphasise on speedy hiring of faculty and motivating them to enhance quality of knowledge and research. For recruitment, stringent criteria in the form of presentations and open seminars can be introduced as these will enable students to become part of the process.”

To motivate faculty to be their best versions, financial incentives are important. “Teachers can be given a part of their research grants as incentives to encourage them to stay research-oriented and do original work,” he says.

Strengthening SEDGs

Till now, there was no formal provision for HEIs to bring students from socio-economically disadvantaged groups (SEDGs) into mainstream education, says Rajneesh Kumar Shukla, VC, Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, Maharashtra. “The UGC draft specifies, ‘IDP must contain specific plans for action on increasing participation from SEDGs,’ including financially and geographically disadvantaged groups,” he tells.

As per him, few concrete steps include, “The first is to provide them with technological help. Next, since majority give up on studies to support their families, HEIs can offer skill-based courses that make them job-ready immediately after completing their education.” The IDP has put into motion all plans that had been on paper but did not materialise for varied reasons, he adds.

Sustainably sound


An aim of IDP is to increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) at all HEIs, which means an increase in number of students at both physical and virtual campuses, says BJ Rao, VC, University of Hyderabad (UoH). “UGC draft notification has asked HEIs to have sustainable infrastructure, both physically and environmentally, to support this growth. The main issue with this is our inability to maintain this growth, which the IDP aims to change,” he says.

UoH plans to add future-ready buildings in a solar energy grid powered system to the campus, tells Rao. “Planning ecologically viable buildings that are able to sustain majority of future challenges will be a long and costly process, but will bring us at par with international standards,” he says. A positive environment in terms of infrastructure will attract students towards higher education in any HEI, adds Rao.

Binary accreditation

The importance of accreditation may vary, but it does play a role in helping students decide their education journey, tells Sharat Kumar Palita, acting VC, Central University of Odisha. “All HEIs are judged as per the same criteria, regardless of their location, section of students it caters to or availability of infrastructure. With the suggestion to implement a globally accepted binary system of accreditation, the UGC draft attempts to find a solution,” he says.

National Accreditation Council (NAC) will be the central body to identify an independent ecosystem of accrediting institutions based on their excellence in certain parameters, which will be responsible for a small group of HEIs in their specific group. “HEIs should aim to attain the highest level of accreditation over the next 15 years, eventually aiming to function as self-governing degree-granting bodies,” says Palita.