Role of Alumni, Vidyanjali and National Education Policy

Partha Pratim Mazumder

(parthapratimmazumder1988@gmail.com)

They say ‘knowledge is the greatest of all possessions and wealth, because knowledge is the only wealth that increases by sharing it with others.‘ It is not only the job of the alumni of the school to organize the Silver, Golden, Diamond Jubilees. They can also contribute a lot to the school. Alumni should stand with the School for any scholastic and co-school work. Due to a variety of factors alumni have a definite role in the growth and development of Schools in Assam. Thus, it is very crucial for an academic organization to develop and strengthen a continuous rapport with alumni. Alumni are expected to perform many roles effectively, such as providing voluntary work, creating awareness among schoolchildren, facilitating internships, career opportunities, job placement for outgoing students and so on. With the passage of time, School Alumni can easily support the scholastic and co-scholastic development of a School. They may come forward to offer financial help to the institutions when the school faces a financial crunch. They may also organize sports events with active participation of well-known players in different segments of sports activities. They can also assist and motivate students to develop proper skills in a particular game. It is also envisaged that alumni will develop, in a modest way, infrastructure capacities such a mini library (physical/digital), smart classrooms, mini garden etc. They should also plan to develop children recreation parks, so that kids from the vicinity enjoy some moments in the campus on Sundays and other holidays. Adoption of some rooms in the school should also be their priority.

In some schools or colleges the alumni have been making efforts to support meritorious but financially weak students. The students from the marginalized sections of society may be provided financial support to meet their recurring expenditure. Certificates, medals and trophies to be given to the students, who perform in a distinctive way in sports events in particular and in other academic activities in general at regional, national and international levels. Funds required for the purpose may be contributed by the Alumni. The complete education ecosystem demands total overhaul of teaching-learning, evaluation and extension processes. Once there is a paradigm shift from centuries old memorization-based learning to inquiry-based learning, the pedagogy is to be research-based and outcome-oriented. The teaching-learning process is to be student-centric with a focus on application, employing all resources, viz. physical as well as digital. Alumni can share their work experiences with students to cause a blending of theory and practice. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also focuses on multi-disciplinary education. Basic lab infrastructure is to be augmented. The alumni are to be approached to contribute to their institutions in this regard.

Alumni are expected to play an important role by organising special programmes with regard to character building of students. The society is confronted with a variety of social evils like drug addiction, intolerance, disobedience and waywardness. Human relations are at stake for pity benefits. The alumni have a role to develop positive thinking, maintenance of harmonious relations and morals among students. Some alumni of different higher education institutions have been seriously concerned with inordinate delay in admissions of first-semester-students in colleges. According to an estimate around six hundred thousand student academic work days per month are lost.

The Ministry of Education and National Informatics Centre (NIC) has designed and developed Vidyanjali 2.0 to leverage the contribution/services of the community and volunteers in school education. Vidyanjali is the combination of two words – Vidya meaning “correct knowledge” or “clarity” and Anjali meaning “an offering with both hands” in the Sanskrit language. Vidyanjali 2.0 is turning out to be a successful model of linking alumni with their schools in more ways than one. People from all walks of life have come forward to register their name on this portal to contribute to the upgrading of the education and infrastructure standards of the school of their choice. Though volunteering for a social cause has been an integral part of Indian culture, the uniqueness of the Vidyanjali initiative is that it provides a tech-enabled, smooth platform, which connects the schools with the volunteers located in any part of the country. To conclude, the aforesaid discussion clearly brings out the engagement of alumni as an important stakeholder in the education system. They, therefore, enjoy a greater space under NEP 2020 in contributing towards institutional growth and development. The institutions interested in the contribution of alumni should create adequate space for pass-outs and build deep and meaningful relationships with them right from their enrolment. Then they must maintain those connections over time, so that this asset is utilized properly for the development of the institutions.