By H. Srikanth & Airpeace Rani
When Prof. P.S. Shukla, the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU, notified the launching of the Four-Year Undergraduate Program (FYUP) in UG colleges in 2023, Meghalaya College Teachers Association (MCTA) spearheaded a movement against the enforcement of the FYUP in the state without the approval of the NEHU Academic Council. MCTA was not opposed to implementing FYUP per se, but it then felt that NEHU was not ready for the FYUP and hence it should implement the program in the next academic year. Their agitation was supported by NEHUTA and the Meghalaya Tribal Teachers Association (MeTTA). But the VC, who was in a hurry to implement it the same year, ignored the views of the stakeholders. A negative campaign was carried out to malign the teachers’ association, as if MCTA teachers had no concern for the future of the students. When the MCTA teachers refused, the colleges engaged teachers employed by the college management to teach the NEP courses.
Most parents then had a positive opinion about NEP 2020 and felt that the children in Meghalaya would lag behind the rest of the country if they didn’t go for the FYUP the same year. Considering the plight of the students, MCTA withdrew their protest after the post-facto approval of FYUP by the Academic Council. Since then, all teachers in the UG colleges under NEHU have been involved in implementing the FYUP. As important stakeholders, teachers’ views on education do matter. Hence, the Meghalaya Chapter of All India Save Education Committee (AISEC), which initiated a pilot study of FYUP, tried to understand teachers’ experiences and perspectives on implementing FYUP. The feedback given by about 80 UG teachers from across 15 colleges in the state presents interesting facts about the FYUP in the state.
Prior to implementing FYUP, the UG colleges in NEHU were running a three-year honours degree program. The curriculum prescribed only 18 papers, and the students were expected to secure 72 credits. The NEHU ordinance then prescribed that each department should have a minimum of four or five teachers–four in normal departments, and five teachers in subjects like English, Khasi, etc. This number was suitable for the earlier system where the teaching load was comparatively less. But this arrangement became meaningless once the FYUP came into force. Apart from major and minor papers, the FYUP introduced several papers categorized as Ability Enhancing Courses (AEC), Skill Enhancing Courses (SEC), Multi-Disciplinary Courses (MDC), Value Added Courses (VAD, and Vocation Education and Training Courses (VET).
Many of the papers are new, and most of the college teachers are not familiar with the content of those papers. Under FYUP, to secure a three-year degree under FYUP, the student has to study thirty-three papers. For securing a four-year honours degree with or without research, the students should study five to eight major and two minor papers. The teaching load has almost doubled after the introduction of FYUP. However, there has been no noticeable increase in the number of teachers. The government colleges and a few elite colleges in the state have appointed one or two additional teachers to teach specialized AEC or SEC courses on a permanent or temporary basis. In principle, barring a few exceptions, most colleges continue with the age-old formula of four / five teachers prescribed by NEHU under the old system. The Academic Council, which is overactive in passing the new curriculum and syllabi for FYUP, has remained silent on the question of amending the NEHU ordinance about the minimum number of teachers to be appointed in each department.
Consequently, one can observe wide variations in the number of papers that the teachers are teaching at different UG colleges. The pilot study conducted by AISEC shows that only 14% of teacher respondents state that they continue to teach only those papers they were teaching earlier. But 49% of teacher respondents informed they teach one more additional paper, while another 27% of teachers said they teach two more papers. The remaining 10% of teachers claimed that apart from major papers, they handle AEC, SEC and MDC courses as well. The students in several colleges admit that different VET courses are handled by their teachers. Some teachers appointed for teaching subjects such as Political Science, Khasi and English were asked to handle courses such as baking, piggery and beauty care. In some colleges, although not appointed for that purpose, some teachers who are gifted in music are asked to handle VET courses in music.
Handling so many courses becomes an enormous challenge for the teachers. Sixty-six percent of the teacher respondents stated that they have been facing problems in teaching new courses. They have complained about the lack of textbooks, unfamiliarity with the course content, and the absence of orientation programs. Seventy-seven percent stated their workload has increased substantially after the introduction of FYUP. Sixty-three percent complained they don’t get sufficient time to complete the syllabus on time for a variety of reasons, such as lack of sufficient time, absence of classrooms, frequent disturbance of classes, and the additional burden of teaching several papers. Most teachers are of the view that they could not do justice to the major papers if they are to teach other secondary papers. They contend that in a state like Meghalaya, internships make little sense as neither students nor the organizations where the students joined as interns know what they have to do.
Apart from teaching, the college teachers take up several other responsibilities as members, and convenors of different committees. They have to hold the internal tests and correct the final semester scripts. Eighty-seven percent of the teacher respondents stated they had to correct the scripts of papers other than the core papers they have to teach. Only 25% of the respondents said they corrected fewer than 100 scripts every semester. But 34% stated that they have to correct between 100 and 250 scripts, and another 33% stated that they correct between 250 and 450 scripts. The remaining unfortunate 8% informed that they are forced to correct over 450 scripts every semester. A teacher teaching Environment Studies in one college claimed that he had to correct 1500 scripts.
The teachers are concerned about increasing dropouts in the colleges after introducing the FYUP. Only 9% of teacher respondents favoured the admission through CUET on the grounds that it helps in attracting quality students. But most of them feel the CUET is an unnecessary exercise that goes against the marginalized communities and increases the dropout rates. Nearly 77 percent of the teacher respondents are of the view that the UG colleges in the state do not have the required infrastructure and adequate qualified faculty to handle research component or advanced major papers in the upcoming fourth year of FYUP.
To sum up, the pilot study undertaken by the Meghalaya Chapter of AISEC points at different loopholes in the FYUP system. The VC, who was obsessed with NEP 2020 and hurriedly introduced FYUP without adequate preparations, is now nowhere around. The individuals and authorities who lent support to him have little idea of the problems that the students and teachers are facing in the affiliated colleges under the FYUP regime. The enforcement of CUET, unwieldy syllabi, exam pressure and increasing cost of education would lead to the decline in the enrolment in the UG colleges. Growing disenchantment with FYUP might compel several affiliated colleges to discontinue their affiliation with NEHU.
It is high time the college managements, authorities in NEHU and the state government stopped eulogizing the NEP 2020 and take concrete steps to understand and resolve the mess that they have created by their hasty and unplanned implementation of the FYUP. Stop experimenting with the students and teachers. They are not guinea pigs.
