In order to break the deadlock over the contentious implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA) will attend the talks with NEHU vice chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla here tomorrow.
It may be mentioned that Prof. Shukla has on September 8 sent a letter to the MCTA calling for talks on the issue of NEP.
According to MCTA general secretary Airpeace W. Rani said that the association in its emergency executive committee meeting yesterday has agreed to attend the dialogue.
“In the said invite, though the vice chancellor highlighted the potential benefits of implementing the NEP, there was no acknowledgment of the tangible challenges,” Rani said.
“Nonetheless, the MCTA which is committed to work towards betterment of the education sector optimistically anticipates a constructive and fruitful dialogue and has resolved to accept this invitation,” he added.
It may be mentioned that teachers of 22 colleges under the banner of MCTA have boycotted classes for First Semester Classes under FYUP (Four Year Undergraduate Programme) in protest against the hasty implementation of the NEP by NEHU.
The MCTA has also demanded withdrawal of the notification issued by NEHU on July 12 to all affiliated colleges to implement the NEP. According to MCTA, majority of the colleges are not prepared for it.
MCTA wanted withdrawal of the notification and rolling back implementation of the NEP from this academic session and going back to the old course.
Besides boycotting first semester classes under the NEP, the college teachers under MCTA have also stopped taking any assignments like setting up question papers for the first semester courses under the NEP. However, they continue to teach students of third and fifth semesters under the present course.
Similarly, teachers of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) have stopped setting or moderating questions papers of the first semester undergraduate programme under the NEP.
The teachers resorted to this action following a call by NEHU Teachers’ Association (NEHUTA) to protest against the failure of the university vice chancellor Prof. Shukla to withdraw the letter of July 12 issued to the principals of all affiliated colleges to implement the NEP.
As decided by the NEHUTA in its general body meeting on August 26, its members have abstained from setting and moderating question papers of the first semester under the NEP at the undergraduate level for different subjects.
According to the NEHUTA, the NEHU Academic Council is yet to decide on the model question papers under NEP for undergraduate programmes which are required as per NEHU Ordinance so that there is uniformity in the pattern of question paper setting across all subjects.
NEHUTA said that in the absence of model question papers, no teacher can set the questions and hence it cannot be moderated. Without these procedures, undergraduate examinations for the first semester based on NEP cannot be held.
