Prof. A. P. Pati
(apatiau@yahoo.com)
Presently, all the higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the North Eastern Region (NER) are preparing for a new academic year (2026-27), and it is unique in the sense that for the first time most of them will introduce the 4th year under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Right now they have a batch of students with 3-year degrees under NEP who are ready to experience higher-level academics in the new arrangement. Out of the total 12 lakh students enrolled in undergraduate courses in NER (All India Survey on Higher Education, 2021), with a very conservative estimate, the number of final-year pass-out students will not be less than 2.5 lakhs. As the 4th year under NEP offers honours courses and honours with research courses, most of these students will seek enrolment in one of their preferred institutions to experience the full spectrum of their chosen subjects. This transition brings a gamut of challenges not only to the students but also to all other stakeholders, like the HEIs, parents and state governments.
Students who have successfully secured 120 credits in the 3-year course shall be eligible to apply for FYUGP offered by HEIs. The first challenge is that some of the good students, because of few back papers, will not be eligible to continue automatically in the FYUGP, and some may find that the same college from which they graduated with a three-year degree is not offering the FYUGP programme. Another possible situation is that many HEIs, particularly rural ones, with scanty numbers of students, are not prepared fully to start the FYUGP because of financial constraints and an inadequate number of qualified teachers to handle higher-level courses of honours and honours with research, which are regarded as equivalent to the first-year postgraduate courses. HEIs will also require additional infrastructure in terms of classrooms, library facilities, laboratories, and other student amenities to administer these courses, which requires huge and immediate investment. Students with limited options have to seek other HEIs for enrolment, leaving their previous institution. Here another challenge crops in. The cost of switching the institutions will be quite significant for many students, particularly those who are economically backward. This may dissuade many to discontinue higher study in this part of the country not only in this year but also in the future, finally jeopardising achieving the ambitious goal of 50 per cent gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education of NEP by 2035.
The HEIs who have offered three-year degree courses but are not fully prepared for FYUGP, hence are reluctant to offer the programme this year, are likely to lose some credibility or will be considered as the second category of HEIs in comparison to those who are offering FYUGP. This public perception, on the one hand, will impact the next year's admission of the former and, on the other hand, create unmanageable demand for the later HEIs. This is the most significant challenge HEIs are going to handle in the coming years. Further, recruitment of adequate and qualified teaching staff to handle the courses that are of a higher level as well as are many in number will be a behemoth task. Particularly, to handle courses like research methodology in FYUGP, all HEIs require PhD-qualified teachers, which is a great obstacle in tribal-dominated states. Additionally, expanding physical infrastructure quickly (if not done earlier) will create an additional burden.
Parents have also faced a challenging situation during the past three years of NEP implementation. The mix of several types of courses, e.g., major, minor, ability/value/skill enhancement, internship requirements and entry/exit provisions in NEP, has added more confusion to their previous understanding of an undergraduate course. With no other choice, they have left it to their wards and HEIs, which disassociates them from the career growth of students. Considering the fact that many students from NER are first- and second-generation learners in their family and come from very poor and rural backgrounds, the lack of understanding about the scheme of NEP among the parents and also to some extent among their wards will not augur well for the development of higher education in this part of the country, which is already under stress.
The respective state governments and the affiliating universities in NER, with the present level of preparedness, are expected to experience some hardship in handling these transition challenges which are faced by both students and HEIs. Most of them are devoid of any concrete transition plan in black and white. Also, the communication gap among all the stakeholders adds to the confusion. This year many students would like to switch institutions for pursuing FYUGP, and the absence of clarity about this process and the lack of a robust credit transfer mechanism are likely to add further stress to all the stakeholders. The current level of regulatory framework for transition to FYUGP, entry and exit provisions, along with the credit transfer mechanism, etc., needs complete revamping.
Considering the fact that the average present GER in NER is below 30 per cent, the possible future would be further challenging. Assam, with the lowest GER in higher education, i.e., around 20 per cent only, shall be enormously strained. Huge investment in infrastructure and manpower will be required to reach this target. But, sooner or later, all the state governments have to achieve this target, which will require concerted efforts with a lot of innovative and strategic policy implementation. This is the high time that both the state governments and the affiliating universities come up with clear guidelines for a smooth and effective transition to help all stakeholders, particularly students. Considering the financial constraints faced by rural colleges, additional financial support to HEIs to address implementation challenges is an imperative and cannot be ignored. Clarity in the actions of regulators will boost confidence not only among students and parents but also support the HEIs for countering the eminent challenge and prepare them to navigate any future dynamics.
(The author teaches in the Department of Commerce, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. He can be reached at apatiau@yahoo.com)