(Photo: IIT Delhi)

New Delhi: After the approval of the National Education Policy (NEP) by the Indian government in July 2020, IIT Delhi, one of the most prestigious Centrally Funded Technical Institutes in the country, has taken a proactive stance towards assessing the proposed guidelines and exploring appropriate measures for the implementation of the NEP 2020 recommendations.

“As an Institute of Eminence, IIT Delhi is fully cognizant of its role in the timely and proper execution of educational policies. The Institute is carefully examining the structure and nature of its existing programs, that could provide a strong foundation for introducing the NEP 2020 directives. Over the last many months, a committee for the implementation of NEP 2020 has carefully considered all Higher Education-related guidelines. Currently, feedback on the committee’s report is being sought from all academic units for further deliberations”, said Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi.

Prof. Rao also pointed out that several initiatives have recently been taken to form new Schools, Departments and Centres at the Institute with multi-disciplinary teaching and research programs, which dovetail nicely with the broad objectives of the NEP 2020.

A new department named ‘Department of Energy Science and Engineering’ has recently been created. The ‘Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP), which was running at the Institute since 2002 as an interdisciplinary programme has been converted into a full-fledged centre in 2021. Another new centre named ‘Optics and Photonics Centre' ‘has been created that will focus on doctoral and postgraduate programmes including special programs for industry professionals.

The Institute also has in recent years started a School of Public Policy, School of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Design, which are all highly interdisciplinary in nature. IIT Delhi’s School of Interdisciplinary Research (SIRe), which has been around since 2017 also promotes interdisciplinarity. Every PhD student admitted in this academic unit is supervised by two or more supervisors belonging to different academic disciplines.

The Institute already has multiple inter-disciplinary undergraduate programs, and several more are in the pipeline. Two new B. Tech programs of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature namely B. Tech. in Engineering and Computational Mechanics, and B. Tech. in Materials Engineering were started in the Academic Year 2020-21.

More interdisciplinary programs are being started, such as a B.Tech. program in Energy Engineering is starting in the Academic Year 2021-22, and Bachelor of Design in 2022-23. It has been planned to start a B. Tech. program in Design from 2025-26.  

IIT Delhi is also starting two new multidisciplinary programs at the PG level i.e. M. Tech. in Electric Mobility, and Master of Public Policy from 2021-22. Discussions are underway for an M. Tech. program in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.

IIT Delhi already offers several options for multiple exits from programs, and movement between programs. In order to make the options even more flexible, as envisioned in NEP 2020, a committee has also been constituted to examine the same and make recommendations for implementation.

Prof. Rao also underscored the relevance of holistic, all round education for students. IIT Delhi has always encouraged its students to actively participate in different cultural and social events organized by multiple student-run clubs and societies. In the future also, IIT Delhi will keep promoting an integrated approach to learning and teaching, thus aligning with one of the primary visions of the NEP 2020.

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