NEW DELHI: Four years after the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 set out to recast undergraduate education, research, credit mobility and industry linkages, the first AISHE stocktake of NEP implementation shows an uneven reform map. Only 56% of responding universities have introduced four-year undergraduate programmes, 49% offer multiple entry and exit, 55% participated in NIRF, and just 7% have apprenticeship cells.Union education ministry released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) reports for 2022-23 and 2023-24 on Wednesday. AISHE collects data from higher education institutions through a web-based data capture format on student enrolment, faculty and staff, infrastructure, examination results and other parameters, and is treated as the primary source of official higher education statistics.For 2023-24, 1,289 universities/ university-level institutions, 48,246 colleges and 15,221 standalone institutions were registered. Of them, 1,278 universities, 46,468 colleges and 11,787 standalone institutions responded. The number of universities registered with AISHE has increased from 1,043 in 2019-20 to 1,289 in 2023-24.For the first time, AISHE collected data through a dedicated NEP module to track implementation across universities. The report says, “The following data points collected by AISHE provide critical insights into how the NEP-2020 reforms are progressing across Universities.”The data shows partial movement on curriculum reform. While 56% universities have introduced four-year undergraduate programmes, 58% have adopted the National Curriculum and Credit Framework for Undergraduate Programmes. Around 49% offer multiple entry and exit in academic programmes, while 69% are registered on the Academic Bank of Credits. However, only 43% have adopted SWAYAM regulations.Research and innovation structures show better uptake, but industry-linked exposure remains weak. Around 65% universities have established Research and Development Cells, 58% have Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cells, and 58% reported MoUs for industry linkage. But only 41% have Internship Cells and just 7% have Apprenticeship Cells.The internationalisation picture is also limited. Only 15% universities participated in international rankings, 26% reported collaboration with foreign higher education institutions, and just 4% collaborated with other institutes for joint degree programmes. Only 30% reported offering courses related to Indian Knowledge System.The broader system continues to grow, though slowly. Total enrolment rose to 4.50 crore in 2023-24 from 4.46 crore in 2022-23, an increase of 3.7 lakh, or 0.8%. Since 2014-15, enrolment has risen 31.5%. The message from AISHE is clear: higher education is expanding, but NEP implementation remains uneven.
