NEP transition leaves gap-year, old curriculum students in limbo

Many students who were previously enrolled under the old curriculum or had taken a break from pursuing their degrees are now facing eligibility issues while applying for the third semester at Panjab University. The transition to New Education Policy (NEP) has created uncertainty regarding credit transfers, course equivalency and admission criteria, leaving such students in a predicament.

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“I failed to take regular admission last year due to personal reasons. As my result suffered due to a lack of guidance, I thought of joining a college only to find that students enrolled under the old system have no place in colleges now,” said Amrit Kaur, who wished to take regular admission in a college.

“I had completed the first year of my course in 2021 after which I began preparing for IELTS to shift to Canada. But as the Canadian government declared that students with graduate degree would be preferred, I thought of completing my graduation. But I was shocked to learn that I am no longer eligible for admission in the second year. I was told that I would either have to start all over again or continue my degree privately,” said Ria, another admission seeker.

Several principals of city colleges said they had written to the university asking for guidelines for students from the old system and gap years seeking admission under the NEP. Officiating Principal of Kamla Lohtia SD College Mohd Saleem said they had urged the university to consider special provisions or bridge courses (if required) to facilitate a smooth transition for such children.

Principal of Malwa College, Bondli Samrala, Dr Dinesh Sharma, said, “The university should definitely find a way to deal with this situation,” he said.

Prof Deepti Gupta from Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, opined that any education policy needs extensive groundwork before implementation which was missing here.

"Such students can pursue their education from the University School of Open Learning (USOL), Panjab University, Chandigarh, as it has not adopted NEP yet," said Dr Avtar Singh, former principal, GTB National College, Dakha.