Subhamoy Banerjee, Mumbai, 10 January 2026
The National Education Policy (NEP) promises flexibility and reform, yet its implementation reveals serious structural flaws that threaten academic democracy in India. Unrestricted autonomy granted to individual colleges has led to wide disparities in syllabi, evaluation standards, and academic quality. In the absence of a broadly uniform curriculum, higher education risks fragmentation rather than excellence. Universities, once responsible for maintaining coherence and standards, are increasingly reduced to ceremonial bodies with little real authority over their affiliated colleges.
This imbalance of power has predictable consequences. Colleges exercise excessive control, often resulting in the exploitation of teachers through insecure employment and of students through arbitrary rules and opaque evaluation systems. Autonomy without accountability inevitably breeds injustice.
Equally troubling is the near paralysis of student mobility. Despite assurances of flexibility, students are frequently barred from migrating not only across states, but even within the same state or city. Genuine cases such as parental transfers are ignored, confining students to rigid institutional boundaries.
An education system that restricts mobility undermines intellectual growth and social equity. Uniformity in core syllabi and the free movement of students across institutions are essential for a democratic and responsive higher education system.
Without corrective measures, the NEP risks entrenching an education system with major faultlines.
