With the change in Government in Karnataka and the appointment of the new Higher Education Minister, requests have been coming in from teacher and student bodies to reverse changes made under the previous Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) government.
On Wednesday, June 7, college students with the support of the All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO), approached new Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar, demanding changes that were initiated as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) to be reversed, reported The New Indian Express.
The students submitted a memorandum to the minister where it was stated that there was little to no clarity on several changes, including the implementation of the four-year degree courses. They also highlighted problems being faced by them due to the hasty implementation of the Unified University and College Management System (UUCMS), which aims to digitise processes related to higher education institutions.
The students said, “No teacher agrees with NEP, which is trying to subvert education in the name of multi-disciplinary studies. Due to NEP’s new rule that admissions to all degree colleges should be done through UUCMS, students are queuing up in front of cyber centres for admission."
The students also brought forth other issues, including that of turning government institutions like the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) into self-financing institutions.
They also highlighted the problem with Maharani Cluster University. They said, "The Maharani Cluster University, which has educated lakhs of girl students, has turned into a hotbed for many problems, with fees hiked nearly three times than that of other government degree colleges."
The other issues that were highlighted included poor quality government hostels and late payment of scholarship fees.
