BENGALURU: While Karnataka is basking in the glory of being the first in the country to launch the National Education Policy, colleges are slamming the government, claiming it has been introduced without proper preparation, roadmap or groundwork.
Autonomous colleges of Bengaluru City University have written to Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) on the impediments in implementing NEP this year. While colleges say they are in favour of NEP, KSHEC has to issue clear guidelines on courses, common syllabus and other modalities. While single major subjects like BCom, BBA, BCA and BSW can be implemented this year, other BA and BSc programmes require time, these top colleges said.
The government has formed 35 sub-committees to frame the syllabus for various subjects with a deadline of September 6. Universities and autonomous colleges can tweak them according to their needs after this, but they have to do it before classes begin on October 1, leaving them with very little time. “As per the NEP policy... the stakeholders follow a common minimum curriculum and syllabi of the core papers as suggested by General Education Council/National Higher Education Resource Centre. The allowed deviation from the syllabi shall be stipulated by these agencies and State Higher Education Resource Centre. We have not received concrete guidelines regarding this from KSHEC as yet. Therefore, how can we ensure there is parity in the syllabus between our institution and other higher education institutions for facilitating transfer of credits for students?” said the memorandum.
NEP mandates all institutions have an academic bank of credit that will enable a student to transfer credits from one college to another in case he/she chooses to change institutions. This would require a thorough system, which can be integrated with the academic bank of credits in a timely manner, the colleges said.
“While states with higher Gross Enrolment Ratio like Kerala and TN are treading the path with caution, what is Karnataka going to achieve without proper planning,” wondered the principal of a prominent college. NEP also allows students to choose subject combinations across streams. “In the existing system, we do not have vocational courses that are offered as one of the electives. It is a Herculean task to come up with such a combination of programmes that could be offered in the present academic year,” said the memorandum signed by 14 academicians and principals of leading colleges in the city.
Apart from these, being autonomous, these colleges have their own concerns over maintaining the structure and functionalities of their autonomous status.
