NEP-2020: Hr Edu Deptt begins exercise to introduce honours, vocational courses in GDCs

The initiative has been taken to implement all the suggestions envisaged in the NEP.

These include introduction of three and four year honours degree, one and two year postgraduate degrees besides doctorate degrees. Notably, the NEP-2020 envisages a host of changes in the education system.

One of the major changes was changing the three-year undergraduate studies structure with multiple entry and exit points for a more efficient higher education sector.

In this regard, an official communication issued by the Director Colleges J&K stressed on starting three-year Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Honours degree courses from the academic year 2022-23. “Students who were enrolled in different colleges till 2021 including the 2021 batch will continue with the old scheme (pass course),” the official communication reads.

All the principals have been instructed to make necessary preparations and chalk out the requirement of faculty and infrastructural facilities required for the introduction of the courses, through respective nodal principals.

“The revisions in curriculum may be taken up with respective affiliating universities,” the document reads.

The HED has also nominated Director Colleges J&K Prof Yasmeen Ashai to represent the department in the committee of experts to assess the infrastructure and parameters for launching various honours programmes in different colleges of Kashmir.

Notably, the government has convened several meetings with Kashmir and Jammu universities besides Cluster University Srinagar and Jammu regarding the introduction of new courses in the universities and affiliated colleges.

The meetings were chaired by Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar on November 28. The registrars of the universities have been asked to prepare and devise the syllabi and curriculum of various honours courses to be introduced in the Government Degree Colleges (GDCs) of J&K.

"The syllabi and curriculum should be uniform for all honours programmes in the colleges in J&K,” the official communication reads.

The university registrars have been also asked to prepare the syllabi and curriculum of different vocational courses to be introduced in the GDCs.

“The Advisor (B) has desired to furnish the action taken and progress achieved in respect of decisions taken in the review meeting held on November 28 for implementation of NEP-2020 at Civil Secretariat, Jammu,” the official document reads.

The universities were supposed to submit the Action Taken Report (ATR) by January 6, 2022. “The universities have submitted the ATR to the government wherein they have drafted a plan for introduction of courses in the colleges in line with NEP-2020,” an official of HED said.

“A meeting to be chaired by Advisor Bhatnagar was scheduled on January 17 to discuss the ATR of the universities but the meeting was postponed in view of surge in COVID-19 cases and rescheduled for February 8,” he said.

The official said the meeting would be attended by all the Vice Chancellors of J&K universities, Director IIT and IIM, Director Colleges J&K and other officers of the HED.