4-year degree courses under NEP-2020 kickstart in Assam

 Create no situation on campuses that will make police and administration intervene: Minister

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 started its first undergraduate (UG) courses (degree level) in the new academic sessions with new curricula and programmes amidst new hopes and aspirations. With this, the four-year degree courses have kicked off in the colleges and universities in the state today. Earlier, degree courses were for three years or six semesters.

Speaking to the media today, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu congratulated all stakeholders, including teachers and students, on the new journey. He said, “The stakeholders had many discussions on NEP-2020 last year, besides the Northeast Conclave on NEP-2020 and how to implement it. All such discussions favour four-year degree courses. After the spadework, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the NEP course model for degree level at Gauhati University in the presence of representatives from all universities in the state. Today, we have stepped into the four-year degree courses. And classes in all universities and colleges began today. I congratulate all on this auspicious moment.”

On four-year degree courses, Pegu said, “NEP-2020 has not changed much from the former education policy that had choice-based curricula that got redesigned and included in NEP-2020. The present policy is student-centric, and the curricula are for their benefit. Though the degree courses are four years from today, a student can get a degree after the completion of three years. The advantage of four-year degree courses is that they can complete their master’s in one year, compared to two years earlier. Another benefit of NEP-2020 is that a student will get a certificate if he completes a one-year degree course with two semesters, a diploma if he completes two years with four semesters, a degree with three years with six semesters, and a four-year degree with eight semesters, besides honours and research. Students completing three-year degree courses can also do a master’s in two years.”

Pegu said, “Our effort is to cut the dropout rate in higher education. We will keep track of how many HS-passed students got admitted into UG courses this year. As many as 2.70 lakh students passed higher secondary school examinations this year. Of them, 1.50 lakh students enrolled either at Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University, Bodoland University, or Cotton University. The stream-wise breakup is around 1.15 lakh in the arts, 20,300 in Science, and 13,300 in Commerce. Data from the Barak Valley, Dima Hasao, and Karbi Anglong are yet to come as their admissions were not through the centralised portal, Samarth. We will get data about the number of students taking admission into engineering and medical courses or going outside the state for higher education later. All this information will let us know the dropout rate. We will take corrective measures to cut the dropout rate. We will launch a portal where students going outside the state for higher education will register their details. This will let us keep track of the students in our state.”

The minister cautioned all not to give any room for ragging in colleges and universities, where students should maintain a sense of fraternity among all. “No such situation should be created on campuses where police and administration will have to intervene,” he said.

Pegu tweeted, “Say no to ragging! Welcome the newcomers with respect, empathy, and kindness and ensure everyone can pursue their dream without fear. #StopRagging#EducationForAll#SafeCampus. My request to all HEIs to read the UGC Regulation on ragging at ugc.gov.in/oldpdf/ragging.”

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