Unlike many State Governments, Universities, and Colleges that are still in the process of preparing for the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which was released three years ago, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode adopted the guiding principles of 3DS and 2Is to achieve the national objectives earmarked under NEP 2020. Revealing the same, Director IIM Kozhikode Prof. Debashis Chatterjee said, “IIM Kozhikode has adopted the guiding principles of 3DS and 2Is to achieve the national objectives earmarked under NEP 2020”.
The National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020), initiated by the Union Cabinet of India on 29th July 2020, sets forth the visionary blueprint for the country's new education system. Replacing the previous National Policy on Education, 1986, this comprehensive framework encompasses elementary education, higher education, and vocational training in both rural and urban India. With the ambitious goal of transforming the nation's education system by 2030, NEP 2020 aims to usher in a new era of learning and development for the country.
MBAUniverse.com examines IIM Kozhikode's NEP 2020 blueprint, which is setting a potential benchmark for other B-schools to follow in developing their own strategies.
But first, what are the 3DS and 2Is! Prof. Debashis Chatterjee explains that the 3DS stand for Diversity, Digitisation and Disruption and the 2Is stand for Innovation and Inclusion. “IIM Kozhikode has adopted the guiding principles of 3DS – Diversity, Digitisation and Disruption and the 2Is – Innovation and Inclusion, to achieve the national objectives earmarked under NEP 2020,” said Prof. Chatterjee.
When asked why IIMK is so focused on implementation of NEP 2020, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee said: “Transformative education prioritized in NEP 2020 will be the building block of our national aspiration to be a global super soft power. India’s ultimate destiny will be to educate more than a billion competent and compassionate citizens for the world’s stage. NEP’s thrust on use of technology, modern teaching pedagogies and experiential learning is crucial to bridge the disconnect between education and the real life of people on the cusp of what we might describe as the new cognitive revolution.”
Prof. Chatterjee explained that IIM Kozhikode has adopted the guiding principles of 3DS and 2Is to achieve the national objectives earmarked under NEP 2020. Let’s examine these principles, and initiatives undertaken to meet them, in detail:
1. Integrated, Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education
Multidisciplinary Education is perhaps the most important thrust of NEP 2020 policy. How is IIMK meeting this expectation? In addition to the flagship Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management, which is inherently multidisciplinary, IIMK has also commenced a Post Graduate Programme in Liberal Studies and Management (PGP-LSM) adhering to the concept of diversification of learning and emphasizing the importance of liberal studies in management education. This is a first-of-its-kind unique programme offering by an IIM that prepares students to take up managerial roles that require a holistic perspective and ‘diversity of thoughts’. IIMK informs that the mandatory workshops on Gandhian Philosophy, Happiness, Practice of Holistic Living, Business Story-telling offered to our management students, imbibe the spirit of National Educational Policy and aim at highlighting thinking and learning, instead of studying, and thus encourage students to go beyond the usual management education curriculum that exists in most management education institutions of the world.
IIMK also shared that their flagship PGP offers a total of 119 electives to students drawn from across a variety of subject areas offer.
2. Equity and Inclusion
IIMK has adopted the principle of Equity and Inclusion in Education in true spirit. IIMK’s students come from diverse academic, social and economic backgrounds. A diversity score is provided during MBA admissions, informs IIMK. This score is applicable to non-male students and to students having non-engineering backgrounds.
IIMK follows the reservation policy of the Government of India for admissions and it has considerable representation from the Socio-economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDG), who are constantly supported in their academic progress by way of specific and timely academic interventions and via various scholarships specially designed to cater to these students.
Giving specific examples, IIMK shared that for the current admission cycle (2023-24), around 69% of the batch comprising of female students in PGP-LSM, 48% of women PhD students , 46% female students for our flagship MBA programme (Post Graduate Programme in Management).
3. Research
IIMK has aligned itself with the research and knowledge creation focus promoted by NEP 2020. The research community at IIMK addresses a variety of exciting problems and offers counter-intuitive insights that aim to challenge established viewpoints. This makes significant advancements to existing body of knowledge and also enriches the classroom experience.
Faculty members at IIMK undertake research on a wide range of topics and these research endeavors are funded either internally through Small, Medium or Large Grant Research Project schemes or by external sources such as the Government of India, Government of Kerala, and other funding bodies. IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, the IIMK’s international journal connects academia, businesses, public institutions, NGOs, and the Government - by publishing rigorous, clear and widely accessible articles which address emerging challenges concerning business management and broader society. The Journal IIMK Society and Management Review has received an Impact Factor (IF) of 1.6 in 2023 in the Journal Citation Report (JCR) of 2023.
4. Creation of New Centres of Excellence
IIM Kozhikode has set up many new centres of excellence to meet the priorities outlined in NEP 2020.
Existing Centres (Before 2020)
- Centre of Excellence for Social Innovation
- Centre for Governance
- Laboratory for Innovation, Venturing and Entrepreneurship (IIMK Startup Incubator)
New Centres (after 2020)
- Centre for Digital Innovation and Transformation (CDiT)
- Centre for CLIMATE (Climate Leadership, Internationalization, Management for Policy Advancement, Technology and Enterprise) Studies
- Centre for Employment Relations and Labour Studies
- Uruppika: Centre of Excellence in Macroeconomics, Banking and Finance (CEMBAF)
5. Technology Use and Integration
IIMK has invested judiciously on equipping it’s classes and campus with modern technologies which enables faculty and students to engage more efficiently and effectively. All classrooms are suitable for blended learning, which has enabled the institution to conduct hybrid mode (online plus offline) classes during the current COVID pandemic.
IIM Kozhikode also introduced the ‘Gurukul’ concept based open classroom in 2021 which is an experimentation in in open learning and uninhibited thinking. IIM Kozhikode Library and Information Centre is one of India's finest and best-in-class management information centres, complemented with state-of-art technology support for its users. It is a cornerstone that supports learning, teaching, and research activities. The library provides remote access facility through which all registered users are able to digitally access library resources from both inside and outside the campus.
6. Global Outreach of Higher Education:
IIMK has created 50 supernumerary seats for international students from the academic year 2022-23 and has commenced the process for admissions in this category. IIMK welcomed a total of 12 international students for all three of its full-time, regular, residential Post Graduate Programme in a first for academic year 2023-24. This is in addition to the ongoing International Exchange Programme in which international students come and spend one trimester at IIMK and students visit foreign universities and undergo their studies during the same trimester. In addition, we have several faculty exchange programmes with reputed foreign universities that faculty members to collaborate with foreign faculty members in research, teaching, training and thesis supervision.
Some of the other notable NEP 2020 related initiatives undertaken by IIMK include:
- IIMK conducts workshops for students on Gandhian Philosophy. In addition, the students of PGP-LSM has to mandatorily undergo a Rural Immersion and Social Development project. As part of NEP 2020 our Library and Information Centre (LIC) has started building Indian language books collections.
- The Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) is a certificate program in Public Policy and Management, offered by IIM Kozhikode in collaboration with respective State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs). The program has been designed at the initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India (GoI), and IIM Kozhikode is an academic partner in this project. The program aims to address the skill development needs of the country by encouraging young professionals to become catalysts for rural development.
As IIM Kozhikode sets a commendable example by proactively adopting the guiding principles of 3DS and 2Is to fulfill the objectives of NEP 2020, other B-schools have an inspiring blueprint to review.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on Initiatives taken on NEP 2020 by B-schools
