SHILLONG, Aug 4: With a disgruntled group of teachers on one end and a wary yet intrepid lot of students on the other, tension is now palpable and the stand-off with regard to implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 appears to be no closer to being resolved.
A crucial meeting between the Vice Chancellor of NEHU, Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla, and Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma may however break this deadlock — if the meeting yields any resolution.
Prof Shukla is likely to meet the Education minister in the next one or two days to discuss the imbroglio concerning the implementation of NEP 2020.
The VC-Education minister meet, sources said on Friday, will be held ahead of the meeting of the Meghalaya Higher Education Council schedule for August 10 on issues related to NEP implementation.
It may be noted that the Education minister will chair the August 10 meeting, which will also witness the presence of government officials, head of educational institutions and officials from NEHU.
Meanwhile, sources have said that the Vice Chancellor is yet to reply to the letter of Meghalaya College Teachers Association (MCTA), which has launched a non-cooperation movement against the “forced” implementation of NEP 2020.
The MCTA had written to the VC stating that his decision to implement the NEP 2020 in under-graduate colleges from the academic session 2023-24 was shocking and unacceptable.
“The MCTA has teacher representatives to the academic council, and as responsible members, their presence, participation and contributions cannot be discounted. In the 110th academic council meeting, the teacher representatives were present and even participated in the deliberations. Therefore, as members of the academic council they are in the know of the entire proceedings of the house in the referred meeting”, the letter had said.
Sources however said that the VC is open to the suggestions of both the HYC and NEHUSU to hold a common meeting inviting various stakeholders including teachers, college principals, state government officials and members of the civil societies to deliberate over the issue and find an acceptable solution on how to implement NEP.
“Probably the meeting will be held before August 15 as hinted by the Vice Chancellor himself,” sources said.
It was also informed that the VC is reportedly not very keen to convene the meeting of the academic council despite the suggestion of the MCTA, which had conveyed that the council is the proper forum to deliberate over the matter.
It is also pertinent to note that a large number of colleges in the state are keen on going ahead with the implementation of NEP 2020.
