IMPLEMENTATION PHASE OF NEP 2020: AN OUTCOME-BASED APPROACH

The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP-2020) of India envisages a transformational paradigm shift in the design, delivery, and evaluation of higher education curriculum. This paper undertakes a qualitative documentary analysis to examine the reality and practices of curriculum implementation under NEP-2020, with special emphasis on the Tridimensional Model of learning — Academic, Skill, and Experiential axes — in a 1:2:3 credit-weight ratio. Drawing from the University Grants Commission (UGC) Curriculum and Credit Framework, the National Credit Framework (NCrF), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for operationalization, and comparative international educational systems (South Korea, Japan, Germany, USA, and China), this study investigates how merging curriculum design with productive skill education can yield Output-Based Education (OBE). The paper presents the Componential Flexible Curriculum (CFC) model proposed by Bhattacharyya (2024) and applies it to the Philosophical Perspectives in Education course as a demonstrative case study of tridimensional pedagogical architecture. Findings reveal critical gaps between policy intent and implementation practice, especially in credit-hour evaluation (wherein 1 credit hour = 1 mark, yielding 120 total marks rather than 100), assessment ratio calibration, and institutional readiness. The study concludes with recommendations for faculty capacity-building, institutional restructuring, and policy-aligned curriculum reform.