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Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education

Dr. Sanjeeda Bano

Assistant Professor
Department of English
Janta PG College Ranipur
Mau Uttar Pradesh 276402
Email.ID sanjeeda999@gmail.com
Contact No. 9795175053

In this era of science and technology where everything is governed by its utility, the expectations
from human beings have also been increased to a large extent. In each and every field of work
be corporate world, university, college, school even in a small shop the employers require such
employees who are multitalented, multidimensional, and may perform various tasks
simultaneously. Keeping these requirements in mind National Education Policy 2020 of India
has also framed its curriculum and syllabus holistically integrated, inclusive and engaging.
Holistic and multidisciplinary education aims to develop social, physical, intellectual, emotional,
moral and critical capacities of learners in an integrated manner. Holistic and multidisciplinary
education will provide the learners opportunities to opt for multiple and various disciplines by
incorporating a syllabus which has no restriction and boundaries of disciplines, wherein a student
from art background may freely select a subject from science, commerce, mathematics, applied
science and business studies and so on and may pursue his education in trans-disciplinary
subjects.

Such sort of education and syllabus is framed to fulfill the current demands of the society, state,
country and the world. By following such pattern of teaching and learning both the teacher and
students will be able to critically analyze any situation, solve problem, bring flexibility in their
thinking and also develop their communication skills. Such sort of education will also be helpful
in filling the gap of multidisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research works. Multidisciplinary
education system also focuses on the holistic education. According to Holistic Education
Network 2003, holistic education is “comprehensive journey where students and teachers learn
and evolve together, aiming for intellectual, creative, emotional, and physical growth. It fosters
an environment where learning extends across various disciplines, allowing for open discussions
on cultural, political, social , and moral aspects of life” (Namita Behera 28).

Ancient Indian education system itself had also been holistic, integrated, multitasking and
multidimensional. The gurus of gurukuls used to impart an overall knowledge of four
stages/asharam of life to their students such as Brahmacharya, Grahasthya, Vanapratha and
Sanyasa. At that time the purpose of education was not just the acquisition of knowledge but it
was a medium for complete realization and liberalization of the self. To quote the Thematic
Session 2022 of Ministry of Education under Multidisciplinary and Holistic Education:
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Higher learning centres of ancient India were known for teaching every branch of
knowledge. Over the centuries, the broader learning opportunities narrowed and
gradually the focus moved to specialization in particular subjects. Higher education today
comes with rigid boundaries across disciplines. A student opting for a particular subject
has to forego exposure to other subjects. Conversely, today’s job markets look for human
resources with multiple capacities rather than specialization in one exclusive field
(online).

National Education Policy 2020 has adopted several measures for the successful implementation
of holistic and multidisciplinary education and some of them are follows:

● Firstly it encourages interdisciplinary studies across various educational institutions by

involving collaboration between universities, colleges, research institutions and other
organizations.
● Secondly, it promotes the integration of traditional Indian knowledge systems into
modern curriculum. This helps in enriching the learning experiences by facilitating
students with a holistic view of various topics.
● Thirdly, National Education Policy also emphasizes on the development of courses and
programs which may cover diverse disciplines such as arts, science, mathematics,
technology, humanity and so on.

National Education Policy 2020 mostly focuses on the skillful learning and job finding
opportunities of the learners. Its proposes not just to create a group of vocational educated class
who are jobless and unemployed but on the contrary it aims to create such group of educated
class who can easily be employed or establish their own business with the help of skills they
have learnt during their education without being financially dependent on others. In order to
provide higher education to the maximum students NEP 2020 has also incorporated the concepts
like multiple entries and multiple exits and lifelong learning. The multiple entry and multiple exit
is commonly known as MEME. The multiple entry and multiple exit will be beneficial for those
students who have to leave their study midway due to some reasons. In NEP 2020 during the
four years undergraduate course if the student want to leave in the middle, then his/her one year
will not be wasted rather he/s he will receive a leaving certificate after one year and within two
years a diploma and after three years an intermediate certificate degree and a complete degree
after the completion of four years of graduation.

Under MEME any student may take leave or take admission in any other course of his interest in
the midway of his/her course by taking a break from his first course for a specific period of time
later on he/she may rejoin to his/her the first course. In this condition the concept of ABC
(Academic Bank Credit) will be utilized wherein the certificate or diploma of previous course
will be given importance and candidate’s Credit will be transferred. The Academic Bank of
Credit will keep the marks/credits obtained by the students from different higher education
institutions in digital form. In NEP 2020 there will be also be the provision of three years degree
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course for those who are not willing to do research but there will be four years degree program
who are interested in pursuing research or Ph.D. The last year for the four years degree program
will be equivalent to Master Degree or Post Graduate degree now the student may directly go for
Ph.Ds. and research they are not required to obtain master degree for two years. This will shorten
the time period of the students for two years.

Such sorts of innovative, multidimensional, multidisciplinary and holistic policy of education

will surely contribute a lot in the researches done in India and also increase the quality of
research. The changes brought through NEP 2020 aim at achieving the five goals or foundation
pillars of education that is Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. It also
proposes to attain 50% Gross Enrollment Ratio in Higher Education by 2035.

Thus in short we may conclude that NEP 2020 has brought revolutionary changes in education
sectors and if it is well implemented within the education system along with its goals and
objectives it may be beneficial for the society, state, country and at large to the whole world. But
it may also be kept in mind in order to bring such a huge and drastic transformation within of the
society time is needed and there are lots of possibilities that we might facilitate its overall
benefits only and only when we incorporate multidisciplinary, multilingual, multidimensional,
trans-disciplinary and holistic approaches towards education from school level to higher
education.

Work Cited

● Shamsu T, Shakila. “Catalyzing and Transforming the Higher Education

Landscape in India- The National Policy 2020”. Research Gate. (Nov. 2023):
1-20. Web. 28 February 2024.
● Behera, Namita. “ Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education: Restructuring og
Higher Education of India in the Frame of NEP 2020”. Epra International
Journal of Multidisciplinary Research.10:3 (March 2024) :27-32. Web 6 March
2024.
● https://www.education.gov.in/nep/multidisciplinary-holistic
● https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.
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