Context

• The National Education Policy (NEP) of India envisions a radical transformation of the country’s higher education system.
• The policy aims to break down the silos within the current structure by promoting large multidisciplinary institutions that focus on cross-disciplinary education, research, and a more collaborative approach to learning.
• To achieve these ambitious goals, a clear roadmap is required to transition from a fragmented system of universities and colleges to an integrated, collaborative educational ecosystem.

The Need for Multidisciplinary Education

• Multidisciplinarity refers to the inclusion of several academic disciplines in a single program or project, where each discipline retains its distinct methods and boundaries.
• An example of this would be a research project where experts from different disciplines such as economics, political science, and sociology contribute their perspectives without engaging in collaborative synthesis.
• The aim here is not to merge the knowledge but to create a broad, diverse educational environment.
• The existing higher education system in India is predominantly organised along disciplinary lines, where each institution focuses on a specific field of study.
• The proposed shift towards multidisciplinary education seeks to break down these barriers by integrating multiple disciplines within single institutions or programs.
• However, this change does not necessarily imply integration or collaboration among disciplines, but rather the coexistence of various fields within a broader framework. 

Moving Towards Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

• While multidisciplinary education involves multiple disciplines working in parallel, the cross-disciplinary approach goes a step further by developing collaboration and dialogue between disciplines, though it does not necessarily call for full integration.
• This approach is designed to create connections between fields, allowing for the exchange of ideas and perspectives.
• For example, a collaboration between educationists and economists to explore the economic implications of educational reforms would be an example of cross-disciplinary work.
• To achieve this, the university of the future must go beyond being a mere collection of departments.

The Role of Interdisciplinary Research

• The ultimate goal of the NEP is to cultivate interdisciplinary thinking, where the boundaries between disciplines are not just blurred but integrated to create new frameworks for understanding complex problems.
• Unlike cross-disciplinary work, which facilitates collaboration without integration, interdisciplinary research involves the synthesis of knowledge from multiple fields to tackle issues that cannot be fully understood from a single disciplinary perspective.
• For instance, addressing a global health crisis requires expertise from medicine, biology, economics, sociology, and public policy.
• Interdisciplinary research is about creating integrated frameworks that bring together diverse insights, methods, and concepts to generate novel solutions.

The Way Ahead to Structuring Multidisciplinary Universities

• Reorganisation of Institutional Structures
  • The transition towards multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary education requires not only a change in teaching and research practices but also a reorganization of institutional structures.
  • One key strategy to create a more integrated system is to phase out single-stream institutions in favour of multidisciplinary campuses.
  • This could be achieved in two ways: first, by expanding the existing core focus of institutions, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), to include humanities and social sciences.
  • Second, by forming university clusters that bring together multiple specialised institutions to create a larger, more diverse academic community.
• Establishing New Multidisciplinary University
  • While university clusters could be a cost-effective and time-efficient way to build multidisciplinary institutions in the short term, they face limitations.
  • For example, a significant proportion of India’s higher education institutions are undergraduate colleges, many of which are single-stream or specialised, such as B.Ed colleges.
  • These institutions may not have the necessary disciplinary variety to support the creation of clusters.
  • Therefore, establishing new multidisciplinary universities may be necessary, with a focus on creating one such institution in every district by 2030.

Overcoming Challenges and Future Considerations

• The shift towards multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary education will require substantial changes not only in academic practice but also in governance, regulation, and funding structures.
• The transformation of India’s higher education system is a long-term process that will require significant investment and a re-evaluation of public spending priorities.
• It will also demand careful consideration of regulatory frameworks to ensure that institutions have the flexibility to experiment with new models of teaching, research, and collaboration.
• Moreover, creating an interdisciplinary ecosystem is a complex task, particularly in a country as diverse as India, where the higher education system is still evolving.
• The challenge lies in ensuring that faculty and students are not only encouraged but also adequately supported to engage in cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research.
• Institutional leaders must recognise that interdisciplinary work requires not just intellectual curiosity but also financial and administrative support to thrive.

Conclusion

• The National Education Policy offers a visionary approach to reshaping India’s higher education landscape, with an emphasis on breaking down the silos that currently divide disciplines.
• Achieving this vision will require a careful and strategic transformation of India’s higher education institutions, focusing on fostering collaboration, dialogue, and integration across disciplines.
• By establishing multidisciplinary universities, encouraging cross-disciplinary teaching and research, and promoting interdisciplinary thinking, India can create a dynamic and flexible educational ecosystem.