Recently, Prof. Philiph Altbach and I wrote an article on the possibilities that may open up with NEP, if indeed it is implemented in true spirit. This article was carried as the lead article in University World News.

Prof. Philiph Altbach is one of the most well known researchers and academician in the area of Higher Education. He founded the Center for International Higher Education in Boston College and has written or edited dozens of books in Higher Education.

The thrust of the article is that it can lead to strengthening of research universities leading to some of our universities reaching the fraternity of leading global universities, an exclusive league in which Indian HEIs do not have a significant presence. For this, a lot more funding for research in universities will have to be made available – and the NEP has a provision for it. It will also require differentiating universities as research-focused or teaching-focused – and NEP recognises this, though it will need good classification methods to do this separation cleanly and transparently.