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New Policy to usher in modifications in 74 universities focussed on crop sciences, fisheries, veterinary and dairy coaching and analysis.
The first National Agricultural Education Policy is about to carry educational credit banks and degree programmes with a number of entry and exit options to the 74 universities focussed on crop sciences, fisheries, veterinary and dairy coaching and analysis.
A six-member committee of Vice-Chancellors has been requested to submit a draft coverage doc to the Agriculture Ministry subsequent month, in keeping with R.C. Agarwal, Deputy Director General for Education, on the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. More than 45,000 college students are admitted into agricultural universities yearly, and the brand new coverage is about to usher in some modifications to their educational life.
“The process started about two months ago, after the release of the National Education Policy. In many ways, agricultural education is ahead of its time, and already aligned with the NEP. The NEP wants a shift to four-year undergraduate degrees, and all our agricultural degrees are already four-year programmes. Similarly, the NEP mentions experiential education, and we have already mandated that since 2016,” stated Dr. Agarwal, who’s in-charge of the committee drafting the brand new coverage.
The Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) programme requires all college students to undertake a six-month internship, often of their fourth 12 months, to achieve hands-on coaching, rural consciousness, business expertise, analysis experience and entrepreneurship abilities, he instructed The Hindu.
“One major challenge is how to ensure that this experiential learning is made available to all students if we implement the multiple entry-exit system. Even if a student leaves after two or three years, even with a diploma, he should not miss out on it,” stated Dr. Agarwal. The Deans Committee, which is liable for creating consensus on modifications within the undergraduate curriculum about as soon as in 10 years, is prone to be known as to fulfill in three to 4 months to make sure that such diversifications are doable. Adoption of educational credit banks may additionally require some tweaking of curriculum necessities.
Another main problem for agricultural universities might be the push for multi-disciplinarity. “Our universities have been modelled on the land grant pattern, with a focus on research and extension, and deep community connections, driven by the philosophy that farmers need holistic solutions to their problems. However, in recent years, several domain specific universities in horticulture, veterinary science and fisheries sciences have come up. How to incorporate humanities and social sciences into these settings, that could be a big challenge,” stated Dr. Agarwal
The Education Ministry has stated it intends to start staggered implementation of those options of the NEP as early as the following educational 12 months, beginning with the Institutes of Eminence and then the central universities. There are 4 premier agricultural training establishments deemed to be universities, three central agricultural universities and three central universities with agricultural school who could also be required to begin making modifications soon.
Though agricultural training is a State topic, the ICAR is liable for the standard of training throughout the nation, and expects to proceed in a standards-setting position below the brand new system of upper training regulation proposed by the NEP. However, it’s not clear whether or not it’ll proceed in its accreditation and grant making roles below the brand new regime.
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