Public policy education 2.0 is here
Public policy impacts society; good public policy makes society better. Public policy determines how citizens interact with each other and with authority. It covers not only economic policies but also marriage and divorce. Laws, institutions, regulation, healthcare, education, skilling and the availability of groceries at your neighbourhood stores happen the way they do because of public policy.
India is trying hard to cope with globalization and the unfettered aspirations of a very young population. It is imperative that we design a society that is able to hold its position in a global world and enables the young to meet their aspirations. A career in public policy can no longer be an outcome of chance or, passion alone. And, most importantly, we cannot afford to learn the techniques of public policy “on the job”. People with domain knowledge need to be further trained before they can start a career in public policy. Otherwise, we have a confused state of policy implementation, where significant time is wasted in reconciling differing approaches and building domain rigour. By the time a policy proposal reaches its fated decision, either the government changes, or stakeholders exhaust their will.
Besides large corporate organizations, the Union and State Governments are also now, engaging consultants through lateral entries to crack down on nuanced policy issues. Most of the ministries have also rolled out their independent student internship programs, affirming their shift to a participatory model which involves students in policy making. This leads us to an interesting question- whether our young workforce has the agency to effectively engage as policy practitioners. Inherently practical and ever-changing, public policy warrants an immersive education model which exposes students to ground realities outside of the classroom. India’s complicated and diverse landscape, needs skilled policy leaders who could not just design policy solutions but implement them, monitor progress and continually improve them. Academic training could make a student analyse data, but internalizing/translating that data into a policy win can only come through appraisal of social and political demographics, knowledge of stakeholders, regulatory mechanisms and negotiation skills. Policy education in India is crying for interactive learning systems, which would dare to look beyond the static knowledge of textbooks.
ENGAGING STUDENTS
For a perpetually transitional and expansive economy like ours, we need to invest in skilled, dynamic and innovative professionals in public policy. Digital disruption and technology has forced international organizations, corporate conglomerates and even government agencies to work at a speed of light. The traditionalist model of up-skilling a fresh graduate is outdated and nobody has time to indulge. Recruitment/interview room will not be the first place where this new cohort of policy students would meet a stakeholder. Reformed policy education would ensure student interaction and engagement with stakeholders is a part of the course training.
The undeniable conclusion now is that the world’s largest democracy cannot function effectively without a rigorous and innovative public policy education program. Specialized training in public policy has to be added to intelligence and hardwork for public policy to be effective in an increasingly complex, fast changing, knowledge-based society. It is about time we fill the vacuum in policy education and train young policy leaders who could solve the country’s biggest problems on a war-footing.
policy education in india needs interactive Learning systems, Which Would Look Beyond The static Knowledge of The Textbook
EFFECTIVE TRAINING
There are some basic ingredients of effective public policy. Values determine what type of society we are aiming for. Expertise and training in various aspects enable us to formulate and solve problems through experience, abstraction and rigour. Understanding the political process enables the implementer of public policy to realize the intended outcomes. And, finally, one needs to be on constant vigil collecting data and measuring performance to ensure that policy is achieving what it promised to achieve. All of these, therefore, must be essential elements in the curricula of any training program on public policy.