Mysuru: The state government’s decision to implement National Education Policy 2020 from this academic year in first-year undergraduate courses has led to many confusions in the higher education sector.
A recent communication from Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) is indicating that the state higher education department has curtailed the academic autonomy of universities.
According to the latest instruction issued by KSHEC to vice-chancellors, they are warned against changing the curriculum content. The VCs are informed that the council has received complaints that the board of studies (BOSs) are diluting the subject content and affecting drastic changes in the contents of the core papers as per their will and wish.
It has been warned that if they do so, it will affect the students’ credit transfer and mobility. It will also create equivalence problems. The contents of the discipline core papers of any subject shall remain more or less the same in almost all universities. The VCs are warned against teachers diluting content just because they cannot teach them.
All vice chancellors are also asked to adhere to the national patterns.
“Even in the most developed countries like USA and UK, the teachers are given the autonomy to design the curriculum. All these years in Karnataka, BoSs were preparing the curriculum framework according to the local needs. However, this year, it has been imposed by the KSHEC. It has affected the autonomy,” said a senior professor.
According to a lecturer from Chamarajanagar, the syllabus for first-year degree colleges is yet to be notified officially.
When contacted, University of Mysore vice-chancellor G Hemantha Kumar denied any major problems in the implementation of NEP 2020. “When the semester system was introduced, there was protests for nearly a year. A few are making complaints assuming problems in future,” he said.
“There may be some teething problems. All will get resolved soon,” he said.
“NEP has a philosophy. If it is not followed properly, NEP will become another ordinary exercise. To reap the benefits of the system, we need to implement the new system properly,” he said.
KSHEC vice chairman B Thimmegowda denied all allegations. “I am available to clarify any doubts. The curriculum committees had members drawn from all the universities, autonomous colleges, subject experts. So, all these complaints are meaningless and baseless,” he said.
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