The Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) is an upcoming school founded by eminent leaders and philanthropists. Offering a one-year master’s equivalent programme in policy, design and management, it will be launched in August 2019 in New Delhi, to fulfil the need for an upcoming home grown programme that prepares policy professionals of the future.
“India will continue to have in the next decades, the largest young population in the world. As societies become more and more knowledge based, rules and institutions that shape local, national and global engagements will have to change to meet the aspirations of the youth in India,” says Dr. Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, Dean, ISPP.
Pressing need
He feels that India needs its own policy programmes that are affordable as compared to the world’s top policy schools based in the U.S. and Singapore. He says, “In a democratic, rule-of-law society, public policy is both a science and an art. It requires scientific knowledge and understanding of how complex societies work; at the same time, the art of implementation requires a deep understanding of how diverse political forces can be brought together to serve a common purpose. While the science of public policy could, at a stretch be generalisable, the art surely is best learnt in the environment in which it will be practised. Hence, the school is being set up in India”.
According to Mr. Gangopadhyay, there are many schools of policy making but the reason for establishing a new public policy school is twofold: “The demand for trained personnel is well beyond what the current set of schools are producing; Globalisation and digitisation are making markets more complex. Public policy specialists need to learn new methods to be able to adapt to the evolving economic and social reality,” he explains.
Unique approach
ISPP will be unique because the programme is not derived from what is taught elsewhere but designed to directly address India’s pressing issues such as health, education, disparity, technology, environment, and so on. Through year-long workshops, students will develop ideas that translate into innovative, and specific, recommendations for addressing these issues.
“We are essentially going to ease them into the industry where internships will be not just another activity that they perform but an integral part of their curriculum and understand the world of policy making from within,” he says.
On the selection of candidates, he says, “The School will look for students who want to, and can, do public policy. Obviously, some of them will not have the means to pay for the training. The School has a policy of moving towards a steady-state set-up where 20% of the students will be on scholarships.”
