SHILLONG, July 19: The North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) has decided to implement the National Education Policy 2020 for its undergraduate courses from the new academic session beginning August 1 and has issued necessary instructions to all the affiliated colleges.
NEHU Vice Chancellor, Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla told reporters on Wednesday that the university has already implemented the NEP for the PG courses since the 2022-23 academic session.
Asked how he will ensure that the NEP 2020 is implemented in all the colleges, Prof Shukla said NEHU will be conducting a meeting with the principals of the colleges on the steps which need to be taken to implement the NEP from the upcoming session.
Admitting that some colleges might face problems in implementing the NEP immediately, he said such institutions would be allowed to defer the implementation by one academic year.
He encouraged principals of colleges that are not yet prepared to implement the NEP 2020 to reach out to the NEHU authorities with detailed reasons for their inability to comply.
As per the new policy, all universities will introduce the four-year degree programme wherein the final year will be dedicated to research activities.
The NEP benefits the students by allowing them to opt for electives across various disciplines. One of the crucial features of these four-year undergraduate courses is the option to exit at the end of every academic year.
For instance, the students exiting the system at the end of the first year get a certificate in their elected stream, a diploma if they leave it at the end of the second year, a degree in the third year, and the successful completion of four years will fetch them an undergraduate BA/BSc Honours degree. Each year is divided into two semesters.
These courses are offered in both in arts and pure science disciplines. Students who choose to study arts can pick from history, economics, sociology, political science, and journalism and can choose to minor in psychology, visual and performing arts, women’s studies, etc., besides electives in engineering, commerce, and management.
Science students can choose a combination of mathematics, chemistry, physics, computer science, and statistics and can go for arts, commerce, and science electives. Students who have completed 10+2 with mathematics as a core subject can join the science discipline.
