Mysuru: The National Education Policy (NEP) and its implementation across all Universities will figure prominently at the three-day National Conference of Vice-Chancellors which will begin at the University of Mysore from tomorrow.

Association of Indian Universities (AIU) President Dr. G. Thiruvasagam told reporters that three States — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — have not implemented NEP. “The expert committee formed by the AIU to elicit opinions from Vice-Chancellors on the implementation of the NEP will submit its report to the Ministry of Education in April on the implementation. The AIU prepared a questionnaire and circulated it among all the VCs of 1,000-plus Universities in all States,” he said.

Listing certain drawbacks on the NEP implementation, he said that there were no guidelines on NEP’s implementation either from the Government or from the UGC and sought clarity from the UGC on this issue. “In the absence of the guidelines and rulebook, the onus of NEP implementation is on the Vice-Chancellors. While some Universities have started implementing NEP, many Universities are looking for clarity,” he said.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) are grading the Universities keeping in focus the NEP. “Over 40 questions are included in the manual for the Universities’ assessment which attracts 100 marks. The Universities are losing marks as they need time and questions on NEP for assessment may affect grades of the Universities,” he said.

Dr. Thiruvasagam demanded that NAAC and NIRF should not include questions on NEP for the assessment until clarity and guidelines are obtained. He also said that COVID had forced zero activity in the Universities for two years. “In the five-year assessment, the NAAC and NIRF must take this COVID-induced zero activity into consideration and give leeway,” he said.