BENGALURU: The All India Save Education Committee (AISEC) in Karnataka released a report on the challenges faced by educational institutions due to the hasty implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) in the State. The report was formally submitted to Sukhdeo Thorat, Chairman of State Education Policy on Wednesday for consideration of the formulation of the new state policy.
Over 96.32 per cent of students surveyed in 24 districts of the state opined that NEP’s multiple entry-exit system does not ensure jobs if a student drops. The committee has requested that the four-year degree courses should not be retained for Karnataka. “To conduct four-year classes, most colleges do not have classrooms and competent lecturers. If a four-year degree is implemented what will be the superior Bachelor of Honors or the three-year degree? Even at PhD level three would be two kinds of degree holders, how will this be addressed?” questioned the committee.
The report by AISEC defended triple major degrees as it gives students opportunities to pursue careers in different fields. The three-subject system is multi-disciplinary and also inter-disciplinary, providing comprehensive knowledge for candidates. However, NEP promotes one major, one minor and one elective subject for higher education. AISEC claimed that this approach is ‘single-disciplinary’ and denies students the chance for better education. Instead, the SEP committee can introduce one open elective such as computer science, AI, marketing, and digital fluency, to support the student’s basic degree.
Around 97 per cent also said that there are no trained lecturers for their chosen subjects which has been suggested in the new policy. For the survey, ‘Problems of NEP-202’ a total of 2,536 individuals from 83 colleges were interviewed, including students and teachers. The survey also highlighted that students from urban, rural, government, private and autonomous institutions were included to get a holistic view of NEP’s implementation.
In universities despite NEP promising several things, they lack infrastructure. The committee wants the state government to focus on building more classrooms, introducing newer methods of teaching and promoting holistic development for all age groups. Emphasising the point, the report stated that the Centralised Admission process and Unified University College Management System (UUCMS) are responsible for denying admission to many poor students as only 30 per cent rural population have internet access.