IoEs to take lead in rolling out 4-year degree courses

IoEs to take lead in rolling out 4-year degree courses

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:1.8.2020

Some of the 20 “institutions of eminence” will be asked to take a lead in rolling out the four-year degree programme announced in the National Education Policy this year itself while other IoEs can follow suit if they wish to adopt the programme in the 2020-21 academic session.

The move to initiate the roll-out of the four-year degree is among some features of the NEP that will be implemented in this year itself. The first of its kind Academic Credit Bank (ACB) will also be ready by December 2020. The draft of Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill will be placed in the public domain for feedback in September 2020 before taking it to Parliament. The framework for the common entrance test for admissions to higher education institutions (HEIs) will also be ready by February-March 2021 and the first test is likely to be delivered in May 2021.

In August 2019, the government offered IoE status to 20 HEIs, which include four IITs, Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University and 10 private institutions, among others.

According to higher education secretary Amit Khare, some IoEs can start the fouryear-multidisciplinary undergraduate programme with multiple exit and entry options immediately. “The phase-wise implementation of the NEP will start from this month itself. IoEs will be encouraged to start immediately in 2020-21, because 20 IoEs are selected and some of them have already signed the MoU. And they can have multiple entry and exit because by that time the credit bank would have become operational,” said Khare.

The secretary said other central universities which are ready can join by 2021 and latest by 2022. Regarding the ACB, Khare said it will be pilot-tested first in a few IITs and central universities before introducing it nationally.

The common entrance test too would be ready by February-March 2021 and the first test is likely to be delivered in May 2021 immediately after the Class XII Board exams.