Managing Academic Integrity and Character Formation in AI-Enabled Education: A NEP 2020–Aligned Framework

Abstract

The broad adoption and adoption of generative AI (GenAI) in higher education is reshaping how education is delivered, assessed, and experienced, and is posing novel challenges for academic integrity, IP rights, and character development in university education. Within this study, a structured integrative literature review (ILR) has been conducted according to the PRISMA framework with the support of a primary literature comprising 36 empirical, conceptual, review, and policy texts on AI in HE, along with 15 foundational methodological and theoretical texts. A hybrid inductive–deductive thematic-synthesis approach is used to identify the recurring integrity risks, pedagogical responses and governance mechanisms, and inner-development requirements, followed by mapping the evidence with the four research questions and corresponding principles of India's National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The synthesis indicates that responsible AI-enabled higher education requires coordinated attention to responsible AI use, assessment redesign, AI literacy, ethical and inner development, institutional governance, and continuous monitoring. These findings are synthesized in the six dimensions of the proposed Samanvaya Framework which are interconnected and involve individual development, pedagogical transformation and institutional governance. The framework is evidence-informed and policy-aligned, with NEP 2020 serving as the current policy-mapping case; cross-jurisdictional transferability and empirical effectiveness require further validation.