BHUBANESWAR: To make higher education in Odisha compatible with the provisions of National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, particularly the multiple entry and exit system, universities in the state have decided to work jointly towards formulating a combined board of studies (CBoS) for all undergraduate subjects. And the courses will have outcome based syllabus that would be aimed at knowing how much a student has learnt from a course. Besides, the courses will be designed in a manner to allow multiple exit and entry by students.
A decision on this was taken at the recent vice-chancellors’ conference and the proposal has been sent to the Higher Education department for its approval. The CBoS will be responsible for preparing the course of studies, revising it as and when required and conducting examinations.
Sources in the Odisha State Higher Education Council which will act as a nodal agency in the project, said all the subjects being taught at UG level would be subdivided into physical science, chemical science, language and literature, business and commerce besides, law. And one public university each will be selected to constitute a combined board of studies for each subject which will be examined by the remaining universites before it is finally approved.
The need for CBoS was felt by the council as it is necessary for the higher education institutes to implement the multiple entry and exit system at UG (3 years + 1 year) level, sources added.The NEP since the 2021-22 academic session has allowed undergraduate students the flexibility to leave a course after completing a year or two and get the corresponding certificate or diploma before pursuing the next course.
Currently, the multiple entry and exit option has only been feasible in case of integrated courses like Integrated MSc, MBA and Law run by private and deemed to be universities.This apart, the council is contemplating developing course content in Odia, like it has been done by AICTE in case of engineering books, with the NEP focussing on teaching-learning in regional languages.