BENGALURU: The government of Karnataka has issued an order on Saturday, with regard to the implementation of National Education Policy-2020 with effect from the current academic year 2021-2022.
On his very first day after being assigned the portfolio as higher education minister, Dr CN Ashwath Narayana convened a meeting with officials of the department and state higher education council.
“With this, Karnataka has become the first state in the nation to issue the order with regard to implementation of NEP-2020,” Ashwath Narayana said
This policy seeks to entirely overhaul the system through various reforms: A single regulator to oversee higher education; no more MPhil courses before PhD; fixed fees for public and private institutions; students can choose between three and four-year undergraduate courses; multiple entry and exit points in degree courses.
It also aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3 percent in 2018 to 50 percent by 2035 and aims to add 3.5 crore new seats to higher education institutions.
Kumar Nayak, Additional chief secretary to higher education P.Pradeep, Commissioner, Dept. of collegiate education, prof Thimmegowda vice-chairman Karnataka higher education council and other senior officials were present.
The official order was also tweeted by the Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwathnaryana and said the policy will be implemented as per the guidelines. “Our commitment to this is unwavering,” he added.
Appreciating the policy Meera L. B. Aranha, Professor & Chairperson – Banking and Financial Services, T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal had earlier told TNIE.
“Statistics indicate that even though the percentage of school dropouts is on the decline, at the secondary level it is still around 17.5%. It is also high at the higher education level. Students are forced to take a break from studies due to financial and medical issues in family. Such students now will be able to get a certificate of completion for the number of years they have studied and also have the option to return to their learning and start from where they had left off. "
Guidelines to implement NEP-2020
The students joining BA or BSc degree courses should opt for two subjects (as Discipline Core) available in their respective colleges. At the start of the 3rd year of the course, they can opt for one subject as a major and another subject as a minor or they can study by opting for both as major subjects.
In addition to opting for two subjects as (Discipline Core), they need to choose Kannada and one more language as language subjects. Besides, they need to choose Open Electives and Discipline Electives as per curriculum structure. It has been directed to prepare a separate Kannada curriculum for those who have not studied Kannada in PUC or 10+2 level or for those whose mother tongue is not Kannada.
Opting (Discipline Core) subjects is not necessary for studying subject-based graduate courses such as B.Com, BCA, BBA, BVA, BPA, etc.
If the student discontinues, for any reason, after completing the first year of graduation (National Skills Qualifications Framework Level 5) by obtaining the necessary credits, he/she shall be given the certificate
If the student discontinues, for any reason, after completing the second year of graduation (National Skills Qualifications Framework Level 6) by obtaining the necessary credits, he/she shall be given the Diploma Certificate.
If the student discontinues, for any reason, after completing the 3rd year of graduation (National Skills Qualifications Framework Level 7) by obtaining the necessary credits, he/she shall be awarded the Bachelors Degree.
If the 4th year of the course (National Skills Qualifications Framework Level 8) is available in the college in which the student has studied the earlier years, the study along with the chosen optional subjects can be continued to get awarded the Honours Degree. If Research Project is part of the course, such students will be eligible to directly go for Ph.D. studies.
If there is no Honours Degree in the college in which the student had studied earlier years, the student can continue the studies by joining any other college where Honours Degree is taught.
It is not mandatory for colleges to have Honours Degree
Students can get a maximum of 40% of the expected credits through official online courses.
The student can get a degree from the University of his/her choice by getting a minimum of 50% credits from the respective university.
Any student should have fulfilled the necessary Pre-Requisite while choosing the subjects of Discipline Core, Open Electives, and Discipline Electives. (For example, while selecting Physics or Mathematics one should have studied those subjects in PUC or 10+2 grade. If not, they should have studied official Prerequisite Courses in the respective subjects.
Students can discontinue only after completion of even semesters and accordingly they can rejoin only for odd semesters.
Eligible colleges can have integrated courses of 5 years in addition to degrees of 3 years and honors degrees of 4 years. If any student discontinues after 3 years degree he/she will be awarded a Degree and after 4 years Honours Degree will be awarded.
Post Graduation will be of one year or two years. Those who have obtained Honours Degree will be eligible to study one year PG and those who have got Degree for 3 years of study will be eligible to join for 2 year PG.
If the student studying in the 2nd year of PG discontinues after getting prescribed credits set for the 1st year, he/she can be awarded the Post-Graduate Diploma.