First-year college students told to return once timetables are fixed

Many colleges don’t yet have syllabus aligned with National Education Policy; lecturer says meeting scheduled today to apprise them of syllabus

A college principal said that lecturers were instructed to orally inform students to return later this month.

Classes for first-year undergraduate students studying in colleges affiliated to Bengaluru Central University (BCU) were to begin on Tuesday, but they did not. Lecturers in many colleges are yet to receive copies of the syllabus and chalk out the timetable for the first-years.

A majority of the colleges conducted orientation programmes for the first-year students on Tuesday and asked them to return to college once the timetables were finalised. Classes for second- and third-year students, which reopened after a break, took place as scheduled. “We are yet to receive the syllabus, which needs to be aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP). Once we get it, we will be able to give students the choice for their open electives,” a city-based government college principal said.

A lecturer pointed out that the university had scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to apprise them of the syllabus under the NEP. “It would have been easier for the students and lecturers if this programme was conducted before the college reopened for students,” the lecturer said.

The principal of another city-based college said that the lecturers have been instructed to orally inform students to return later this month. “Our teachers do not need any preparation for the second and third-year classes, but to teach the first-year students as per NEP they need more training. So we will delay the commencement of classes,” she said.

Revision time

Ramesh A., a first-year B.Com student of a government college in Bengaluru, said the lecturers had asked the students to report to college after October 21. “They have told us that we would receive messages when the timetable is fixed. We have been asked to revise our second-year PU syllabus at home till then,” he said.

Lingaraja Gandhi, Vice-Chancellor of BCU, said that the syllabus was approved by the academic council on Tuesday. “As per the University Grants Commission, they need to conduct a week-long orientation programme that is given to colleges. Even without the syllabus, the colleges could have started the orientation programme. We have met the challenges and quickly approved the syllabus,” he said.