Too early to say how beneficial these courses are for students, says NEHU’s Controller of Examination
SHILLONG, Dec 10: Many, including college teachers and students, resented the hasty implementation of the New Education Policy 2020 by North-Eastern Hill University at the undergraduate level in 2023.
The NEP, however, appears to have brought far-reaching changes in the UG programme of the affiliated colleges of the university with the implementation of the Curriculum and Credit Framework for Undergraduate Programme of 2022 from the 2023-24 academic session.
New papers under multidisciplinary and skill courses have been introduced in the three semesters related to IT, finance, communication, statistical application, business, and personal development. Additionally, more than 700 students have opted for online courses offered by different institutions such as the BHU, NPTEL, CEC, and IGNOU covering diverse topics such as E-business, B2B business, soft skills, ethical hacking, short fiction writing, entrepreneurship, natural resource management, and post-harvest management under the SWAYAM platform.
NEHU Controller of Examination (CoE), Sumarbin Umdor told The Shillong Times that NEHU is among a few universities that have decided to offer vocational training courses (VTCs) as part of the new UG curriculum for which the end-semester practical examinations have been completed.
He said these vocational courses are tailored to equip students with practical skills and hands-on experience, enhancing employability and encouraging students to pursue entrepreneurship in their chosen fields.
Prof Umdor said the university has approved 26 VTCs under six categories related to agriculture (organic farming, fish farming, bee keeping, piggery, and cultivation), horticulture (floriculture and landscaping), carpentry and repairing (automobiles, electronics, electrical repairing, and carpentry), technology (web designing, desktop publishing, and computerised accounting), tourism (food and beverages services and event management), music (drums, piano, guitar, vocals and Khasi traditional), manufacturing (baking and confectionery and food processing), fashion and designing (beauty care, accessory design and fashion design), and media (photography).
The CoE said the maximum enrolment of students has been in mushroom cultivation, desktop publishing, drums, baking and confectionery, web designing, organic farming, computerised accounting, and event management. According to him, colleges have had to invest in materials, infrastructure and manpower to service these courses with many tying up with other specialised agencies to help them run these courses.
Stating that while many have doubted the feasibility of offering VTCs and online courses, Prof Umdor lauded the colleges for the successful implementation of the courses.
He observed that in the last few months, the NEP Committee and the examination department of NEHU have been working closely with the colleges and domain experts to frame guidelines on how to service and assess the new courses.
“However, it is too early to say how beneficial these courses are for the students. Further, there is a need to introduce new skill and vocational courses and the hiring and training of teachers. Colleges also need funding from the state and central governments to invest in infrastructure, materials, and manpower,” he said.