Professor N.V.Varghese,
Vice Chancellor, NUEPA,
New Delhi
Professor N.V. Varghese is currently Vice Chancellor of the National University of Educational Plannning and Administration and the Director of the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE), New Delhi. He holds a doctoral degree in Economics with specialization in educational planning. He was Head of Governance and Management in Education at the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP/UNESCO), Paris till October 2013 and Head of its Training and Education Programmes from 2001 to 2006. He was responsible for designing and introducing the IIEP Master’s programme in educational planning and management. In the 1990s he was a Professor and Head of the Educational Planning Unit at NIEPA, New Delhi. He has been closely associated with educational planning at the federal and decentralised levels and with the design and development of externally funded education projects in India
While in NIEPA, he was responsible for managing an Asian regional network – the Asian Network of Training and Research Institutions in Educational Planning (ANTRIEP) and was editor of its Newsletter. While in IIEP, he was the Secretary General and responsible for the Secretariat of the International Working Group on Education (IWGE) which is a network of funding agencies in education. He has directed several research projects; published around 25 books and research reports, and more than 170 research papers and articles in areas related to educational planning, financing and higher education.
NUEPA to develop as a world class policy Research
Institute and enhance its policy and planning support to
MHRD, NITI AYOG, UGC and other decision making bodies
The National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) has been acting as a think tank in the field of educational policy and planning in India. The Institute carries out research, offers training and extends policy support to decision making bodies. It is an autonomous Institution funded by the Ministry of Human Resources (MHRD), Government of India.
It was set up in 1962 as the UNESCO Regional Centre for the Training of Educational Planners and Administrators for the Asian region. It became the Asian Institute of Educational Planning and Administration in 1965. The government of India took over and renamed it as the National Staff College for Educational Planners and Administrators in 1970 and it was further renamed as NIEPA in 1979 when research was added as a major focus of its functions. It became a university in 2006 under the new name – National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). It offers courses and awards degrees at the M.Phil and doctoral levels. It regained its name as NIEPA in 2017.
The Mission
The Institute stands for realizing a vision of creating a humane learning society through advancement of knowledge.
Its missions include:
- • To serve as a centre of excellence and a think tank in the field of education and provide leadership on matters critical to educational policy, planning, administration;
- • To strengthen institutional capacity to create a responsive, participatory and accountable system of educational governance and management at all tiers of educational systems and structures;
- • Contribute to the generation of research evidence for policy; help prepare plans and design programmes for development of education in India.
The Institute strives to achieve these missions through its research programmes, training and capacity development programmes and policy support to MHRD and other policy making agencies.
Research Activities
Research is one of the important and core activities of the Institute. Empirical research with focus on education policy, planning and management , with an interdisciplinary orientation, carried out by the Institute, generates new knowledge which forms the basis for our support to policy, academic debates and discussions and designing the contents of its capacity development activities. All faculty members of the Institute are engaged in research related to their area of specialization. The results from such empirical research are the main source of our academic activities and credibility of the Institute.
NIEPA carries out research studies initiated by faculty members and funded by the Institute. Every year a number of new studies are approved by the Academic Council and are launched by the faculty members. NIEPA undertakes several studies at the request of the MHRD and other public bodies. These studies are mostly short duration studies, at times evaluation studies, pertaining to some of the programmes initiated by the MHRD, other Ministries, UGC and other public bodies. NIEPA also engages itself in research projects in collaboration with national and international institutions.
The research carried out by our doctoral students is another important source of knowledge generation. The themes covered by the doctoral theses are wide and varied and are rich in theoretical understanding and empirical analyses.
NIEPA has been made the main source of producing school education data in India. The DISE and UDISE data is collected and brought out as a publication by NIEPA annually. It is the most accessible and widely used data base on school education in India. The Institute also carries out periodic surveys on education administration. The All India Educational Administration surveys of NIEPA covers all states of India. The Institute has completed three such surveys.
Capacity development programmes
Professional development for building institutional capacity has been the major purpose of establishing the institution in the 1960s. NIEPA offers long duration and short duration training programmes. Our Training programmes are practical in their orientation and address the educational administrators in service. The long duration national programmes include the Post-Graduate Diploma Programme on Educational Planning and Administration. This is a year long programme which includes distance mode and face-to-fact interactions with the trainees. The Diploma and Certificate Programmes on School Leadership is another instance of long duration programme targeting the national educational functionaries.
NIEPA organizes more than hundred short duration (one week to two weeks) training programmes, workshops, seminars and consultative meetings every year. The Institute is planning to take advantage of the digital India initiatives and is trying to enhance the reliance on technology to increase the coverage of training programmes using a blended approach.
International interface
NIEPA is engaged in research and training programmes in collaboration with several universities and International agencies. Several of its faculty members have been engaged in research and teaching activities with institutions abroad. NIEPA enjoys good academic credibility among the international academic community.
NIEPA organizes an important professional development programme targeting the educational administrators and policy makers from developing countries especially from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The International Diploma Programme which started in 1985 has already covered more than 92 countries and several hundred participants.
NIEPA acts as a Focal Point/ Secretariat of an Asian regional network called Asian Network of Research and Training Institutions in Educational Planning (ANTRIEP). This network is established in collaboration with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP/UNESCO) Paris. The network has members of institutions from several Asian countries. Its members meet regularly to discuss issues related to promoting educational research and institutional capacity development in the Asian region.
Another initiative, as part of the Institute’s engagement with international scene is the help in setting up India-Africa Institute for Educational Planning and Administration in Burundi.
Publications
NIEPA’s credibility as an institution promoting research is reflected through the numerous publications brought out by the faculty members and by the Institute. The Institute publishes several books and research reports, seminar reports, Research Papers and Occasional Papers.
It brings out Journals in English and in Hindi. The Journal of Educational Planning and Administration is published in English and Pariprekshya is published in Hindi. In addition, the Institute brings out a newsletter – ANTRIEP Newsletter – as part of its international collaboration.
To help the capacity development efforts, NIEPA facilitates online publication of Open Educational Resources, especially Teaching-Learning Material. NIEPA also brings out published reports of the national and International seminars organized by the institute.
NIEPA tries to highlight the local innovations in education. It organizes innovations award and publishes documentation on the innovations. The innovation award process attempts to identify the initiatives at the local level, recognize them at the national level and help others to learn from such innovations.
NIEPA faculty members publish their research work in journals and publish their books through reputed publishers. The Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education brings out an annual publication titled India Higher Education Report. NIEPA’s visibility and academic credibility, to a large extent, comes from the publications of its faculty members in national and international journals and books published by reputed publishers.
Planning and policy Support
NIEPA has always played an important role in the national education policy formulation and in designing several of the national educational programmes. The support extended by the Institute in the formulation of 1986 policy- both at the stage of the preparation of the discussion document and the policy document – is well known. Similarly, the Institute played a very significant role in the designing of the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), SSA, RMSA, RTE etc.
As part of the Institute’s regular engagement with the state governments, NIEPA organizes meetings with Directors of State Institute of management and training (SIEMATs) and Chairmen/Vice Chairmen of the State Councils of Higher Education (SCHE). While the SIEMATs are important institutions to improve school education the SCHEs are very important institutions for promoting planning and management of higher education.
NIEPA publishes Policy Briefs based on the research carried out by the Institute. These Policy Briefs are the basis for organizing policy dialogues and also extending support to policy and planning at different levels including at the institutional levels.
Future orientations
The major effort in the coming years will be to develop NUEPA as a world class policy-oriented research institution. This may imply strengthening the ongoing research and training activities and embark upon new initiatives to reinforce research capacities and research output. It also means to developing a research agenda and setting priorities. The Institute will be launching a set of large scale research studies to reflect the national context and empirical realities. The Institute is in the process of developing a perspective plan for its future orientation and development.
The Institute will be expanding its training and teaching activities. One of the major initiatives is to introduce a Master’s programme in educational planning and management. We plan to start the programme once the new building is completed. Meanwhile, NIEPA will start the process of developing curriculum, syllabus and courses for the Master’s programme.
The Institute will enhance its policy and planning support to MHRD, NITI AYOG, UGC and other decision making bodies. It will help professionalize education administration at national and sub-national levels. This will include developing institutional leaders through professional development of heads of educational institutions; document and disseminate innovations in educational administration at all tiers of education; provide enhanced support to states and SIEMATs and SCHE for improving planning and management of education at the state levels; and enhance use of technology to increase the coverage of training programmes using a blended approach.
