The Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education (MERITE) Scheme marks a bold move by the Government of India to elevate the quality, equity, and governance of technical education closely aligned with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Genesis and Scale
Approved by the Union Cabinet on August 8, 2025, the MERITE Scheme is structured as a Central Sector Scheme with a total outlay of ₹4,200 crore, half of which ₹2,100 crore is financed via World Bank assistance. It is slated to be implemented over 2025–26 to 2029–30, covering 275 government and government-aided institutions: 175 engineering colleges and 100 polytechnic institutes, including NITs, State Engineering Institutions, and Affiliating Technical Universities.
Beneficiaries
An estimated 7.5 lakh students across all States and Union Territories will benefit from the scheme. The scheme also extends assistance to State and UT departments overseeing technical education, ensuring systemic support across levels.
Objectives: What MERITE Aims to Achieve
Aligned with NEP 2020, MERITE is designed to tackle three persistent challenges in technical education:
- Improving Quality through digitalisation, accreditation processes, and multidisciplinary frameworks.
- Promoting Equity, especially by encouraging participation from women faculty and leadership roles.
- Strengthening Governance via enhanced quality assurance, institutional autonomy, and updated frameworks.
Key Interventions
The scheme features a wide array of interventions structured around:
- Curricular Alignment and Employability: Updating syllabi to meet labor-market needs, promoting internships, blended learning methods, and establishing skill and maker labs, research hubs, language workshops, and innovation centres.
- Faculty Development: Training for educators, especially aiming to mentor future academic leaders and promote gender inclusion in leadership roles.
- Institutional Strengthening: Encouraging digital education strategies, formalising multidisciplinary programs, reinforcing accreditation and governance measures, especially through collaboration with bodies like IITs, IIMs, AICTE, and NBA.
Synergy with NEP 2020
NEP 2020 champions a comprehensive overhaul of India’s education ecosystem, promoting multidisciplinary learning, autonomy, research orientation, and equitable access. The MERITE Scheme operationalizes these principles in the domain of technical education by:
- Embedding multidisciplinarity and innovation in program design.
- Facilitating institutional autonomy and capacity-building, especially in underdeveloped regions.
- Fostering gender diversity and inclusion amongst faculty and administrative roles.
- Emphasizing research, skill-building, and quality assurance in alignment with NEP’s deep focus on moving from rote learning to innovative pedagogy and continuous assessment.
Transformative Potential
MERITE is poised to transform India’s technical education landscape by:
- Enhancing employability: Through modern curricula, internships, and innovation support.
- Expanding access: By bolstering institutions in semi-urban and vulnerable regions.
- Promoting inclusion: Through targeted faculty programs and equity-focused interventions.
- Elevating governance: Through accreditation improvements and regulatory transparency.
In doing so, the scheme aims to uplift student transition rates, reduce graduate unemployment, and foster leadership in academia thereby aligning with India’s broader goals of becoming a leader in education, research, and technological innovation.
Sources:
- https://acadnews.com/cabinet-approves-landmark-inr4200-crore-merite-scheme-to-transform-technical-education-ecosystem/
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/cabinet/cabinet-approves-rs-4200-cr-budgetary-support-for-merite-scheme-to-reform-technical-education-626023
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