Central University of Kerala to implement NEP from next academic year
Kasaragod: The Central University of Kerala (CUK) will implement the National Education Policy 2020 from next academic year, said Prof Amruth G Kumar, dean of academics. Students will have the option of multiple entry and multiple exits during their course and will have to do a compulsory internship, he said.
The university has also applied to register with the Academic Bank of Credits so that students can deposit the credits they earned in the digital locker. "We are expecting the registration to come through in a week," he said. CUK will be the first university in Kerala to implement the NEP 2020.
Multiple entry, multiple exit
Students can exit a course after every two semesters. That is, a PG student can exit only once during the course and an undergraduate student can exit twice during the three-year programme. If the PG student intends to complete the course, they would have to rejoin the programme within four years of leaving the university, and the undergraduate student would have to rejoin the course within six years.
The UGC calculated the break period by multiplying the tenure of the course by two. "That is done to ensure the student returns before the syllabus gets outdated," said Prof Amruth Kumar.
If the students fail to return to complete the course within the stipulated time, they will have to apply as a fresher. All the 27 departments of the university would be implementing the multiple entries, multiple exit options, he said.
Except for the Department of International Relations and Politics, which is offering an integrated undergraduate course, all other departments are offering only PG courses. The board of studies of every department is now tweaking their syllabus to make exits meaningful for students.
If a PG student leaves after one year, they would get a PG diploma certificate. For undergraduate courses, students would get a certificate after the first year, a diploma certificate after the second year and a full degree certificate after three years.
The university is still working on the guidelines for the re-entry of students. But if the number of students seeking to re-enter a course are more than the number of seats available, there would be a screening, said Prof Amruth Kumar. "We will also have to decide on the mode of screening. We will also have to implement reservations for students seeking re-entry. But we have another two years to decide on that," he said.
Internship for PG and UG courses
As of now, an internship is mandatory only for professional courses. With NEP 2020, internships will be part of every undergraduate and postgraduate course, said the dean of Academics. "The internship should be for a minimum of two weeks and done outside the university," he said.
A language student could do their internship with poets, writers, and newspapers. A science student could do their internship with industries and also labs in premier institutes, he said. The internship is different from the dissertation which is now part of the course.
Credit bank
Students need a minimum of 80 credits to complete their PG course in CUK.
Of the 80 credits, 40 should be earned from core subjects, 20 credits should be earned from 'programme electives' offered by their respective departments or similar departments in other universities via online.
Another 20 credits can be earned from 'open electives'. These can be unrelated to the core subjects. A physics student can take up a music or language course from any university offered online, said Prof Amruth Kumar.
Most of the universities have posted their online courses on the SWAYAM portal. "The credits of the courses done online will be automatically reflected in the Academic Credit Bank. Students can redeem the credits to get their course certificates," he said.
Theoretically, students can join one university and complete their course from another university by redeeming their credits earned from the first university. "But we are yet to form guidelines on admitting students from other universities," Prof Amruth Kumar said.