NCISM competency - based curriculum to give AYUSH education a scientific upgrade

educationtimes.com · Feb 21, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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For centuries, India’s traditional systems of medicine—Ayurveda, Yoga, etc—were carried forward by the wisdom of teachers and the faith of communities. They survived invasions, colonial neglect, and scientific skepticism. But what will carry them into the future is not just their heritage; it is their ability to evolve. That is what the education reforms, introduced in 2021, have set out to do: build the next generation of practitioners who can think scientifically, practice ethically, and represent traditional medicine on the global stage. When the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) started reworking the system in 2021, it asked a simple question: what kind of graduate does the world need? Someone who is graduating in Ayurveda and practicing Allopathy, or who memorises shlokas and applies Ayurveda principles in a modern clinic? Someone who remains an assistant doctor forever, or someone who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any medical professional in the world? The answer shaped everything that followed. The commission made the whole curriculum student-centric. It began by overturning the structure of classroom teaching itself. For decades, students sat passively through long lectures, scribbling notes but rarely touching a patient or a plant. The NCISM flipped that ratio. Teaching is now divided into two parts—lecture and non-lecture—and the proportion is one to two. If a student has 100 teaching hours, only 30 are lectures. The remaining 70 are clinics, practicals, group discussions, small research projects, seminars, and so on. This may sound like administrative arithmetic, but it changes everything. A student who spends most of their time in activity-based learning develops curiosity, not just memory as they learn by doing. But reform did not stop at the classroom door. The NCISM created something entirely new for traditional medicine - electives. Imagine an Ayurvedic student studying environmental science or microbiology—not because they are forced to, but because it makes them a better doctor. Electives help the students as these are optional modules that help in exploring subjects but to becoming a complete practitioner. For instance, Ayurveda never formally taught about the environment. But how can a doctor who believes health depends on balance ignore the air people breathe or the water they drink? Similarly, microbiology was not a classical subject, yet understanding it helps students grasp why herbs or formulations act the way they do. Electives are designed precisely to bridge that gap. Each elective is a 45-hour course, often online, complete with video lectures and assessments. Students choose three every 18 months, adding up to nine electives across the course. If they select electives related to their core subjects, they receive additional marks as an incentive. These credits can later be added to a credit bank, a system that encourages lifelong learning. The Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course still runs for five and a half years—four and a half years of study and one year of internship. The structure looks familiar; the mindset does not. It is designed for flexibility, curiosity, and skill-building. When the new system was launched, 30,000 students enrolled in electives. They asked six lakh questions on the online platform. Most students took five electives when opting for three was mandatory. A few students opted for 17-18 elective options. These students were bright and did not chase grades but chased knowledge. The IIT Story For the first time, Ayurveda students were sent to IIT Jodhpur’s Ayush Centre of Excellence for a week-long intensive course in high-end technology—ayurgenomics, ayurbiology, data science. They were trained under IIT faculty, lived on campus. That’s when it was realised how much this reform has changed the mindset. Students are not just healers now; they are innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs. They belong to a world where Ayurveda doesn’t sit in a corner of tradition but stands at the crossroads of science and culture. Education reform is not just about students, though. It’s about the entire ecosystem—teachers, administrators, researchers. The commission realised that a student’s innovation will die unless someone in their college knows how to guide them. So, it partnered with the National Institute for MSME in Hyderabad to train young teachers in innovation, intellectual property, and entrepreneurship. Twenty batches were trained so that every college now has at least one teacher who can support student innovations. Similar steps were taken for Sanskrit teachers, working with the University of Hyderabad to train them in computational tools for teaching. When teachers become modern, the subject itself comes alive again. Even principals—often promoted from senior faculty positions—needed help. Many had deep subject knowledge but little idea of how to run an institution. So, the NCISM collaborated with the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), a UNESCO-established body, to train them in educational management. Over five hundred principals across the country completed the programme. The mindset is changing across India’s 700-plus Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha colleges. Traditional medicine education is becoming competency-based, outcome-driven, and globally relevant. When students graduate, they will not just be Ayurvedic doctors—they will be professionals who understand health in the widest sense: ecological, biological, and human. Reform, in the end, is not about rewriting a syllabus, but about changing the mindset. When an Ayurvedic student can discuss microbes, data analytics, and medicinal plants in the same conversation, you know the world is about to take traditional medicine seriously again.