Maharashtra: ‘We don’t have classrooms for 4-year UG courses’

As the new academic year draws closer colleges and higher educational institutes across Maharashtra are scrambling to put things in place to facilitate the implementation of the National Education Policy NEP 2020 Autonomous colleges in particular are experiencing a variety of difficulties and confusion while attempting to meet the JulyAugust deadlineOver the last few months the state government has introduced a slew of guidelines and government resolutions GRs setting in motion the implementation of NEP 2020 The NEP 2020 which is the first education policy of the 21st century has proposed the ldquorevision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure in India including its regulation and governancerdquoIn Maharashtra the steering group formed to implement the policy recommended that it be adopted gradually commencing with single major fouryear undergraduate FYUG courses in the forthcoming academic year 20232024 Institutions having postgraduation PG sections have already been asked to expand their threeyear UG degree courses to fouryear honours degree The panel also published an interim plan in March to adopt NEPrsquos provisions in the statersquos higher education frameworkWhile nonautonomous colleges are being guided by the Universityappointed NEP implementation cell autonomous colleges have to plan and execute NEP 2020 on their own For most colleges itrsquos a working vacation ldquoThe state government told us to forget about Sundays and holidays and work things out as soon as possible Most teachers are not ready to work they have been reminding me about clauses pertaining to employees holidays and workloadrdquo a principal of a wellknown autonomous college in South Mumbai told midday adding ldquoPrincipals are sandwiched between the government and staffrdquoRestructuring courses and designing subject combinations is not just timeconsuming but also tricky said Dr Minu Madlani Principal of KPB Hinduja College Girgaum ldquoFirst we must make it the course more and more studentcentric while taking faculty workload into account Even if we do manage to develop different subject combinations while accounting for infrastructure and the teachersrsquo availability what if students are uncomfortable with the choices we providedrdquo said Madlani The bigger challenge he added is to redesign the fouryear course such that students can secure gainful employment after undergoing it Restructuring and revamping of the syllabus will be finalised only after the approval of the subject board of studies BoS in the university and not at the college levelDr Rajendra Shinde principal of St Xavierrsquos College Dhobi Talao said that the institute has formed a core group to handle planning and implementation of the NEP 2020 ldquoThe team comprises around 20 members including the vicechancellor and a good mix of senior and new teachersrdquo said Shinde ldquoWhile the initiative and policy is good and will be excellent for students and open many avenues for them we are currently concerned about the timetable and space Once we offer subject combinations we will need more classroomsrdquoAnother principal from a suburban college said that several colleges in the city do not have classrooms and infrastructure to offer fouryear degree courses ldquoDuring a workshop organised for autonomous colleges and institutes in March the minister of higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil indicated that colleges could develop vertically if necessary and that the department would put out a request to raise the floor space index for them But all of this takes planningrdquo she said adding ldquoThe government should have given us a year morerdquoAt present only firstyear students will be covered by NEP the second and thirdyear students will still adhere to the old curriculum ldquoThe lecture time for the new curriculum will be one hour while those following the previous syllabus will continue having 40 minutelong lectures We will have to frame our timetable tactfully to avoid clashesrdquo said another principal from a South Mumbai college on condition of anonymity ldquoAdditionally it is unclear what will happen to students who failed the FY this year What curriculum will they be required to follow There are several gaps and many ambiguities Teachers and administrators have been left on their ownrdquoThe principal said that the committee that framed these guidelines didnrsquot take into account the additional expenses that will be borne by the colleges ldquoFor example if we have to offer artificial intelligence AI skill enhancement as an elective for a subject combination we will have to get an expert in the field to teach the subject which will involve additional costs Colleges will have to recover that cost through fees Will that be acceptable to parentsrdquoA senior teacher from a college in the eastern suburbs said that a student can finish a full year of classes under the NEP modelmdashwhich provides a fouryear programmemdashand exit with a certificate after one year a diploma after two years a degree after three years or an honours degree after four years ldquoThis might lead to a great deal of ambiguity in the courseplanning process and require more administrative support Have government officials and experts on their panel given this a thoughtrdquo asked the teacherDespite the lack of clarity colleges are working overtime with the planning and execution ldquoWe are keeping things in place for now The Mumbai University is yet to issue further guidelines on admission Itrsquos expected in June We will wait for thatrdquo said Dr Neha Jagtani principal of RD National college Bandra