Calcutta University announces new course structure under NEP; colleges in a fix

With only a week remaining for admissions to begin, the University of Calcutta has, finally, announced a new course structure under the National Education Policy. This has created a difficult situation for over 150 colleges under its umbrella which are in a fix over how to increase the infrastructure, recruit teachers and accommodate multidisciplinary subject combinations overnight.

With only a week remaining for admissions to begin, the University of Calcutta has, finally, announced a new course structure under the National Education Policy. This has created a difficult situation for over 150 colleges under its umbrella which are in a fix over how to increase the infrastructure, recruit teachers and accommodate multidisciplinary subject combinations overnight.

According to a circular issued on Friday, the university has done away with the traditional honours and general course for undergraduate students. Instead, the courses have been renamed as four-year B.A./B.Sc. degree programme and three-year B.A./B.Sc. (multidisciplinary) degree programme. It has also done away with the prescribed duration of the curriculum as students can clear all semesters within seven years.

Also read | Bengal finally decides to implement NEP, but drops introduction of centralised admission

But, colleges are asking as to why the decision has come so late and that too, without any consultations with the teaching community. “Compulsory courses like artificial intelligence for science and digital empowerment for arts are unknown to the existing faculty. This will necessitate recruiting qualified people. Also, a multidisciplinary degree programme will need a large number of teachers and classrooms. The most difficult part of implementation will be the compulsory summer internships. Imagine a college 50 km away from the city arranging summer internship for 500 students. That is next to impossible,” an associate professor of a college located on the outskirts of Kolkata, told The Hindu.

“Also, the circular came on June 23 and admissions start on July 1 — that’s too less time for colleges to restructure admission rules and subject combinations. Also, students will need counselling on the new mode as they are in the dark about what to do. Has the syllabus been framed for the subjects? If not, when will it be framed? College administrations are clueless at the moment,” the professor, who did not wish to be named, said.

Another teacher associated with the university said that a series of workshops and webinars for teachers was required before implementation of the new structure. “Webinars for teachers can be organised even now. The main challenge is infrastructural, and people are not prepared because they did not get enough time to be prepared. Most of the teachers are not aware about what to do in the new courses,” the teacher said.

“What we need is a quick arrangement for training of teachers such as continuous workshops and webinars. We also need to introduce smart rooms; if not that, then at least smartboards in the classrooms. That should not cost much. They will cost less than what the State government hands out to the various cultural clubs for Durga Puja. There are some 43,000 clubs in West Bengal, but only 2,400 colleges,” the teacher remarked.