1. A Situation Everyone Is Experiencing… But Interpreting Differently
Across campuses, a common concern is being voiced. Academic Institutions are observing declining attendance in classrooms and reduced student engagement.
Faculty are often finding it difficult to sustain attention and participation in traditional teaching formats.
At the same time, Students are not completely disengaged - they continue to participate actively where they find energy, interaction and relevance.
Individually, these observations are being discussed. However, they are often interpreted as a problem of discipline, motivation or teaching methods.
What is less explored is whether this is actually a design issue of campus life itself.
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2. The First Reality: Students Are Not Coming for Classes Alone
For a growing segment of students, especially in the current generation, college is no longer viewed only as a place for attending lectures. For them classroom attendance is selective. Their engagement depends on interest and relevance. The participation is higher in interactive or activity-driven settings, At the same time:
• Events, clubs, competitions and informal activities continue to attract students
• Spaces with energy and interaction remain active
• Students are willing to spend time on campus when there is something to engage with
This indicates a clear shift. Students are not rejecting college. They are responding selectively to how it is structured.
Note; Frozen in time curriculums and ancient learning paradigm are too slow for their fast speed learning abilities. ________________________________________
3. The Second Reality: Academic Design Still Centres Around Classrooms
Despite changing behavior, most institutions continue to operate with a classroom-first model. There the classes are treated as the primary reason for students to come to campus. The activities are positioned as optional or supportive. The engagement outside classrooms is not structurally integrated.
This creates a disconnect. While the Institutions expect attendance first and engagement later but Students look for engagement first and attend selectively.
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4. The Third Reality: Employers Already Value Engagement Beyond Academics
Employers across sectors have been steadily evolving their evaluation approach. While academic performance remains relevant, increasing importance is being given to:
• participation in activities
• teamwork and collaboration
• initiative and leadership
• exposure to real-world situations
This creates a situation where, what institutions treat as “extra” is often what employers treat as “essential”.
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5. How NEP Looks at It: Removing the Separation
When viewed together, these realities begin to align. Academic systems are structured around subjects. Students are seeking engagement. Employers are valuing broader capabilities. The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) addresses this gap by:
• removing rigid separation between curricular and co-curricular domains
• promoting holistic and experiential learning
• encouraging participation in all sorts of things including clubs, sports, arts, community service and activity-based learning
Through this, NEP is not simply adding activities. It is redefining how learning can happen within campus environments.
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6. A Different Lens: Engagement as the Entry Point to Learning
If the current behavior of students is observed carefully, a different possibility emerges. Instead of expecting students to come primarily for classes and participate in activities additionally. Institutions can create campuses where:
• engagement, activities and participation become primary attractors
• students come regularly for interaction and involvement
• academic learning becomes embedded within that engagement
This does not reduce the importance of academics. It changes the pathway through which students connect with academics.
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7. Expanding the Scope: Beyond Traditional Activities
For many years, co-curricular engagement has been limited to hobbies and other small things like drawing and painting, sports, cultural and language-based activities. While important, these represent only a small part of what students can engage with today. There is now scope to expand into a much wider set of structured engagements, including:
• technology and innovation-based activities
• environmental and sustainability initiatives
• community-based projects
• entrepreneurship and problem-solving challenges
• skill-based and interest-driven micro activities
This broader ecosystem can create continuous reasons for students to participate in campus life. The canvas should expand to every possibilities except illegal and immoral activities.
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8. Three Stakeholders – Now Connected Through Engagement
8.1 Academics: From Attendance Enforcement to Engagement Design. Institutions now have the opportunity to:
• design vibrant campus ecosystems
• integrate engagement with learning pathways
• create structured participation frameworks
This enables a shift from ensuring presence in classrooms to creating reasons for students to be present on campus
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8.2 Employers: From Academic Evaluation to Holistic Assessment Employers are already:
• valuing behavioral and practical capabilities
• assessing candidates beyond marks
• identifying talent through participation and exposure
A structured engagement ecosystem allows them to evaluate candidates more meaningfully and connect learning with real-world capabilities
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8.3 Candidates: From Passive Attendance to Active Participation For students, campus engagement becomes:
• a source of energy and motivation
• a way to explore interests
• a platform to build identity and capabilities
Instead of attending by requirement, they participate by choice.
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9. A New Dynamic: Campus First, Classroom Integrated
With these shifts, a new campus dynamic can emerge.
Earlier:
• campus supported classrooms
• activities supported academics
Now:
• campus engagement drives participation
• classrooms integrate into that engagement
This creates a more vibrant, participative and meaningful learning environment
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10. The Opportunity
This creates a clear opportunity for transformation.
For Candidates:
• to experience learning as engaging and relevant
• to build capabilities beyond textbooks
For Employers:
• to identify talent through real participation
• to rely less on marks alone
For Academic Institutions:
• to improve attendance organically
• to create vibrant campus ecosystems
• to align closely with NEP intent
This is not merely about improving activities. It is about redesigning how students relate to campus and learning.
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11. Closing Reflection
For a long time, institutions have tried to bring students to classrooms. The emerging reality suggests a different approach. What we need is to create campuses where students want to come to…and then learning will follow.
NEP has opened the space for this shift. The question is no longer whether engagement matters. The question is whether institutions are ready to design for it.
National Education Policy 2020, Ministry of Human Resource Development. Government of India – Relevant Extracts
Principles of this Policy;
Item 4; •no hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams, etc. in order to eliminate harmful hierarchies among, and silos between different areas of learning
Reduce curriculum content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking
Section 4.5: Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.
Experiential learning;
Section4.7: In all stages, experiential learning will be adopted, including hands-on learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated education, story-telling-based pedagogy, among others, as standard pedagogy within each subject, and with explorations of relations among different subjects.
Student Activity and Participation
Section 12.9: Students are the prime stakeholders in the education system. Vibrant campus life is essential for high-quality teaching-learning processes.
Towards this end, students will be given plenty of opportunities for participation in sports, culture/arts clubs, eco-clubs, activity clubs, community service projects, etc.
In every education institution, there shall be counselling systems for handling stress and emotional adjustments.
Furthermore, a systematized arrangement shall be created to provide the requisite support to students from rural backgrounds, including increasing hostel facilities as needed. All HEIs will ensure quality medical facilities for all students in their institutions.
