Varsities in Catch-22 situation over NEP

Though the previous AIADMK government too opposed the NEP and had formed an expert committee, which urged the Centre to make several amendments, the Union government did not heed its request.

The Union Ministry for Education has written to institutions, colleges, and universities to submit their action taken report at the earliest, in view of the rising concern that fewer action has been taken since the NEP was launched.

The University Grants Commission’s (UGC) latest directive to all the Vice-Chancellors to set up NEP cells in their respective universities has also left the HEIs bewildered.

Both the UGC and the AICTE, the nodal agencies to monitor the implementation of the NEP, had also warned the HEIs in the State that the affiliation would be at stake if NEP activities were not carried out.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next on condition of anonymity that despite the state government shooting off several letters on its apprehensions, the Centre is yet to respond.

He said though the UGC, in November 2020, warned the universities that funds would be frozen if HEIs failed to complete even one of the NEP recommendations, the financial assistance continued last year.

“However, since the new academic year has started, the universities have expressed concern whether they might not get funds if NEP was not implemented since UGC had asked the Vice-Chancellors to send detail action report on NEP before December,” he pointed out.

N Pasupathy, representative of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) claimed that certain State-run universities have slowly started implementing NEP to get the funds from the Centre without any interruption.