SHILLONG:
The Voice of the People Party (VPP) has expressed concern with the present impasse that exists between the Meghalaya College Teachers Association (MCTA) and the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) Vice Chancellor (VC) about the latter’s decision to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in this academic session.
VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit is a press statement issued here today said that in the interest of the students and the education in the state it urge upon the government to intervene into the matter, and put an end to the present stalemate between the MCTA and the VC of NEHU.
The party president said that it is also concerned about the plight of the students and the effectiveness of teaching, if certain issues, like infrastructures, increase in the number of teachers, are not addressed, before the new policy is put in place.
Basaiawmoit also said that the party cautions the people and especially the students not to be influenced by those who wish to implement this policy within this academic year without taking into consideration the above mentioned problems.
He stated in very categorical term that the VPP is not against the NEP, rather it is questioning the preparedness of various institutions and colleges to implement the same within this academic year in the light of the issues cited above.
According to the VPP chief it is understood that the NEP 2020 offers various courses to the students which also includes vocational courses, therefore additional classrooms to accommodate the increasing number of students, and teachers to teach the newly introduced courses have to be addressed first.
Basaiawmoit also said that the party is also concerned about the government’s unwillingness to create teaching positions in the colleges which compels the college authorities to create their own teaching positions, which are not at par with those of the University Grants Commission sanctioned posts.
He said that this results not only in disparity in terms of pay scales, but also in terms of workload.
The VPP president pointed out that the NEP 2020 also stresses on the need to ultimately give autonomy to colleges, which will make it difficult for the state government to regulate the functioning of colleges and institutions, and therefore give them freedom to decide on the fee structure which will have a direct bearing on the students especially those from poor background
The VPP also reminded about the decision of the state government to accept the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) without taking into consideration the problem that the students have to encounter.
“Large number of students have been denied admission for their undergraduate courses due to lack of examination centers in the State and could not appear for said CUET exam. Therefore, the Voice of the People Party does not want the same fate to await the students with regards to the NEP,” Basaiawmoit said.