Relationships for SDG policy

Universities in Global South can be changemakers to achieve SDGs: JGU Vice Chancellor at ACUNS meet in Tokyo

The Founding Vice Chancellor of JGU, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, addressed the prestigious Annual Meeting of the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS) held in Japan in June 2024 and delivered the keynote speech.

In his speech titled ‘The Role of Universities in the Global South for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’, Dr. Raj Kumar outlined how critical it was to achieve the ambitious Agenda 2030 in the remaining six years and how important it is for all stakeholders, governments and corporations to undertake strategic policies and actions to contribute directly to the fulfilment of the SDGs and solve pressing global issues. “It is essential that knowledge production and distribution, innovation, cutting-edge research, interactive learning, and capacity building are enhanced for human development and universities and other higher education institutions can be a key platform to realise the fruitful conclusion of these important and demanding tasks,” he said.

Panel discussion on Internationalisation of Education

Global awareness and interconnectedness through the internationalisation of higher education have a significant role in shaping the next generations of learners. Agreeing on this, one of the key areas which NEP-2020 emphasises is the internationalisation of the higher education system. The Policy reinforces the need to attain the goal of global quality standards, attract greater numbers of international students, and achieve the goal of “internationalisation at home”. Professor C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellors of JGU was one of the panellists on the thematic session.

Indian Education Dialogues & Implementation NEP 2020: Consultative Process by O.P. Jindal Global University

The National Education Policy 2020 has undergone a comprehensive consultative process with all key stakeholders to create a visionary policy that speaks to the aspirations of young India. Skills like critical thinking, creativity and collaboration, combining learning and knowledge with application, are growing in relevance. Today’s world is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, in which the only constant is change. This requires the development of leaders who can think on their feet, innovate, and find solutions to a never-ending series of business and people problems. In this regard, a multidisciplinary system of education, as suggested by the NEP (National Education Policy) 2020, is an aspiration to provide students with a well-rounded, holistic and flexible education. The recommendations on higher education received in the past year have been engaging. Public policy of any kind requires a lot of effort in all stages of the policy-making cycle. Harold Lasswell, at the University of Chicago and Yale University, developed a multi-dimensional model of effective policy-making that is used even today. The five dimensions of his model are: agenda setting; policy formation; decision-making; policy implementation; and policy evaluation. Policy-makers around the world have learnt enormously from Lasswell’s model. The current times and the unique challenges and opportunities that India faces demand a reassessment of the model. I propose three additional dimensions between the policy formation and the decision-making process: creating awareness among all stakeholders; building consensus among institutions; developing institutional mechanisms to support the policy. So far, the NEP-2020 has focused on the three proposed dimensions. Stakeholders are seeing the efforts of the Government of India towards ensuring that the policy is implemented in earnest. Since the launch of NEP, the government has been preparing plans for its implementation. However, vibrant democracies such as India, where ‘education’ is on the Concurrent List of the Constitution, require deliberations, debates and discussions at all levels of the government and regulatory architecture, and among different types of higher education institutions (HEIs).

International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building (IIHEd)

The International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building (IIHEd) is an independent research institute within JGU that is focused on pursuing research and capacity building initiatives on different aspects of higher education in India and beyond. IIHEd actively engages in producing policy papers, policy briefs and relevant documents for the use of and consultation by the parliamentarians, government departments, higher education regulatory bodies, international organisations, higher education institutions, policy makers in India and abroad and other stakeholders.