By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 27: After dithering for a while, the St. Anthony’s College has implemented National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, bowing to pressure from parents and public.
Although many deficit colleges had done so from August 1, the management of St. Anthony’s College had decided to wait after realising the challenges that lay ahead.
Br. Albert Longley Dkhar, principal of St. Anthony’s College, told The Shillong Times they implemented NEP from August 16 due to pressure from parents and public.
He said they were supposed to implement it from August 1 but did not go ahead then as the management felt the college was not prepared.
“We went ahead as there is a directive from the university (North-Eastern Hill University) to implement it. But we still have our reservation as the notification issued on July 12 has not come from a proper channel or proper office as per statutory provisions of the university,” Br. Albert said.
He said they conducted the orientation for first semester students after the decision was made.
He said the college management will have to fall back on the teachers of Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA) to take classes for the first semester students.
“We have 100 plus teachers from the deficit system. But the MCTA teachers have received a directive from their central body to take classes for the first semester students as per the old syllabus. Now, we are in a very difficult situation since the teachers have to abide by the directive of the central body,” Br. Albert said.
He said the MCTA has maintained that it is not against the implementation of NEP.
He said the teachers are opposed to the way it is being implemented as they want more time to prepare themselves by way of training and the colleges also need to gear up in terms of infrastructure and manpower since implementing a new policy is an uphill task.
“Going with NEP, we have theory as well as practical (classes). Even those teachers, who have taught for many years, will need to prepare themselves. The present stalemate is really creating confusion in the minds of students,” the St. Anthony’s College principal said.
He said they have received the syllabus of only first and second semesters. Till date, there is no syllabus for the Bachelor of Music Course run by the college, he said.
He also said that the students are confused on the combination of subjects, whether it is for major or minor or skill enhancement and multi-disciplinary courses. He said most students are sending him WhatsApp messages and emails asking the name of the books.
Br. Albert said the students expect to get the books of all subjects and topics directly as in school.
“But so far, no materials have been prepared by the university and as such, the students will have to depend on the notes of teachers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Br. Albert said the implementation of NEP will automatically affect the fees of students. There will be a lot of new subjects. One semester will have six subjects, he said.
“The teachers will not be able to teach some papers because of no preparation. So, I may have to get teachers who are qualified with all the skills training. We will need to pay them. We have given a representation to the government that we will be requiring the resources but there is no response so far,” Br. Albert said.
He said the NEHU is yet to conduct training for the college teachers on the new syllabus and new courses.
“I hope the university conducts the training of the teachers in the future,” he said.
He recalled that the college principals and the teachers had met Education Minister, Rakkam A Sangma in June and pleaded for one more year to implement NEP after citing their unpreparedness.
“We met the Minister and expressed our feelings that we should do it from the next academic session. But all the colleges went ahead to implement NEP. I took time to start off,” the St. Anthony’s College principal said.
He said NEP is completely different from the semester system and the annual system. He said they will need new classrooms, internet and new posts of both teaching and non-teaching staff since the number of subjects and the workload have increased.
Br. Albert appealed to the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education to call upon principals, college teachers and NEHU to amicably resolve the standoff arising out of NEP’s implementation in the interest of students.