Modi Govt Proposes Liberal Arts Universities In New Education Policy

The importance of liberals arts education for the future of students and the country seems to have finally caught the Narendra Modi government’s attention.

Going a step ahead of what the draft new national policy on education has suggested, the Centre has proposed to set up public universities for liberal arts education. These institutes would be on par with the IITs and the IIMs, focussing on multidisciplinary education and research.

What is liberal arts education?

Liberal arts education is based on a unique model of providing a broad education in different fields through a multi-disciplinary approach. Students enrolled in a liberal arts institution has the flexibility to choose between subjects or pursue a composite stream that has a component of both science and humanities subjects.

The draft education policy has suggested that liberal arts should be introduced at the undergraduate level in institutes across the country.

The Ministry of Human Resource and Development, according to a report in news portal The Print, has mentioned the establishment of public universities for liberal arts in the final version of the education policy. Not only this, the draft has also suggested the inclusion of liberal arts in the IIT course curriculum as well.

Benefits of liberal arts education:

• It improves critical thinking skills
• Gives a degree-holder in liberal arts the edge in career and profession
• Offers a well-rounded education
• Help students gain interpersonal skills
• Develops effective communication skills

The contours of the university of the liberal arts:

The liberal arts university will basically be a large multi-disciplinary university enjoying flexibility in curriculum development and rigorous specialisation in single multiple subjects, a model followed in USA.

The objective will be to place them in the rank of the famed ivy league universities in the US. They would offer courses in languages, literature, music, philosophy, Indology, art, dance, theatre, education, mathematics, statistics, pure and applied sciences, sociology, economics, sports, and other such subjects.

These universities can be set up as greenfield institutes or developed by consolidating and restructuring existing institutes.

As of now, a few private universities in the country including the Azim Premji have developed as liberal arts universities, having multi-disciplinary and the flexibility of changing subjects.