Karnataka to remove NEP for higher studies, here's what it means for students

He further highlighted that the NEP had encountered widespread opposition from students, parents, lecturers, and educators alike. Criticising the BJP for unilaterally implementing the NEP within the state without universal adoption across the nation, Siddaramaiah suggested that this approach failed to consider the best interests of the students.

The Congress party, victorious in the state Assembly elections, had previously pledged to eliminate the NEP. The party had colloquially referred to the NEP as the 'Nagpur Education Policy,' humorously alluding to the headquarters of the RSS.

During a meeting in June with the Minister of Higher Education, MC Sudhakar, the vice-chancellors of public universities outlined the challenges they were grappling with in implementing certain aspects of the policy. They expressed reservations, particularly concerning the shortage of adequately qualified faculty to teach open elective subjects under the NEP, hindering the offering of multidisciplinary courses, among other related concerns.

With the recent decision, a significant shift is set to occur, rendering the Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) norms of the NEP inapplicable to colleges and universities in Karnataka starting from the upcoming academic year.

Among the notable reforms introduced by the NEP was the introduction of multiple entry and exit options. Under this framework, UG programs could be completed in either three or four years, depending on the chosen career trajectory. The UG curriculum encompassed various milestones, including a certificate after the first year, an advanced diploma after the second year, a Bachelor's degree after three years, and a research-oriented Bachelor’s degree after four years.

This innovative approach permitted UG students to leverage their accumulated Academic Bank of Credit from diverse higher education institutions and seamlessly transfer credits between institutes at their discretion. Meanwhile, the PG stream was restructured to comprise either one or two years in duration. Notably, the traditional Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) program will be phased out under this new system.

It also implemented setting up multidisciplinary education and research universities or MERUs in or near each district. According to the government, MERU’s will be at part with IITs and IIMs .

Further there will be one single regulator for all higher education streams except legal and medicine. The existing regulators will be merged and a new bill will be introduced in the Parliament to facilitate this.

Institutes on higher education stream will have graded autonomy. This means that an institution with higher grades will have more autonomy with respect to academic, administration and financial issues. There will be common norms on fee for private and public higher educational institutions.