Page 23 - EducationWorld March 2023

to be a model for such experiments in and breadth prepares graduates to by teachers trained in disciplines
the public university system. think creatively about real-world and often without an interdisciplin-
The Central government, for its problems from multiple angles and to ary framework to teaching. In such a
part, has embraced the move towards communicate their ideas effectively situation. what does it mean to build
liberal education, calling on schools to diverse audiences. more such programs?
and HEIs to adopt “holistic and mul- Some academics may view the
tidisciplinary” curriculums that will Does India need a new set of move towards interdisciplinary
prepare students to meet the demands interdisciplinary liberal arts education as an unfair critique of
of a rapidly changing economic programs? disciplinary specialisation. They
landscape (NEP 2020). Policymak- While interdisciplinarity is gaining will argue, rightly, that scholars have
ers worry that college graduates are traction in policy discourses, educa- long engaged with tools outside of
entering the labour force without the tors need to ask the question: what their own fields. After all, most of
skills they need to succeed profes- do we actually mean by “interdisci- the scientific discoveries and inven-
sionally, and this concern is not plinarity”? One simplistic approach tions over the past century have been
without merit. According to the 2021 to “doing interdisciplinarity” is to from discipline specialists. Similarly,
India Skills Report, less than 50 per- add courses from the social sciences a close look at any serious academic
cent of all college graduates for that and humanities onto the syllabi of publications within a particular
year were considered “employable”. what were traditionally technical discipline shows that research has
If the India Skills Report is accu- universities. This approach, in theory, already been interdisciplinary, if not
rate, this means that millions of new could lead STEM students to serious transdisciplinary, for quite some time.
degree-holders could find themselves introspection about the pedagogical In this case, what does this new call
unemployed in 2023. limitations of their parent discipline. for interdisciplinary education aim to
A Liberal Arts education trains More often, however, this “add hu- achieve? Will it dilute disciplinary ex-
students to think critically, creatively, manities and stir” tactic is greeted by pertise and water down competency?
and compassionately about the world scepticism and apathy from STEM We do need specialists and experts in
and themselves. The most pressing students who view such initiatives as particular fields – can interdisciplin-
issues of our time — climate change, costly impositions. ary liberal arts provide this depth to
artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, On the other hand, students in the have mastery in a discipline?
social inequality, public health, urban social science and humanities streams Another set of questions concern-
growth, rural development, and rarely have any engagement with nat- ing liberal arts programs in India
challenges to democratic institu- ural sciences or technical disciplines. is with respect to the length of the
tions -- cannot be addressed by any Unlike in the STEM disciplines, there programs. Students and parents may
one discipline alone. That is why a are few models in the Indian context regard a four-year degree in the arts,
Liberal Arts program aims to equip where arts and humanities students sciences and humanities with suspi-
students with disciplinary training engage seriously with the natural cion, wondering if the additional year
as well as a rigorous, interdisciplin- sciences. Even in contexts where will add any benefit. The cost of such
ary foundation that spans the natural students are introduced to multiple programs -- in terms of tuition and
sciences, social sciences, arts, and disciplines, individual courses largely opportunity -- also raises questions
humanities. This emphasis on depth exist as independent entities, taught about access and equity. It is often

EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023