Education plays a significant role in building a nation. Our present education system is churning out youth who have to compete locally, regionally, nationally as well as globally. The 21st Century has opened up many new challenges in the field of Higher Education. The present alarming situation necessitates transformation and/or redesigning of the system, not only by introducing innovations but developing a “learner-centric” approach. The National Education Policy (NEP) is one such approach which has brought several reforms in Indian education that includes broad based multidisciplinary Undergraduate Education with 21st Century skills while developing specialized knowledge with disciplinary rigor. It enables an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deeper level. It is introduced to bring equity, efficiency and academic excellence in National Higher Education System. Karnataka is the first state to implement NEP. St. Claret College, being affiliated to Bangalore University, implements NEP beginning with the first year undergraduate programs from the academic year 2021-22.

NEP Structure and Credit Score

The undergraduate degree under NEP will be a multi-disciplinary program of four-year duration with multiple exit and entry options.

Students will have the option to exit from UG Programs after one year with a certificate, two-years with award of the diploma and after three-years with the award of the bachelor degree. Successful completion of the four-year program will lead to award of the bachelor degree with honours in particular subjects. Continuation of the undergraduate programs into the fourth year (honours) is optional, especially if the college is not offering postgraduate degrees in those subjects. But it is a preferred option. The graduates of these colleges can seek admission to the fourth year, honours program in the respective postgraduate departments in the university or in the colleges where it is offered. This is because the present postgraduate programs will be restructured into one-year Master's degree for honours degree holders and two years' master's degree for the basic degree holders. The candidates shall complete courses equivalent to a minimum of 140 credits to become eligible for the Regular Bachelor Degree and 180 credits to become eligible for the Bachelor Degree with Honours.

Points to note

Every Semester, student have to complete a certain number of credits. On an average, a course having 4 hours of class per week is equal to 4 credits. One hour per week is equal to one credit.

Honours are not equal to master's; a student needs to take another year to get their master's. Once the NEP is implemented, the Credit score earned can be carried from one College or University to another, but from the degree granting institution, the student should have completed 50% of their classes. Example: If BU is the granting university, a student under BU needs to have a minimum of 50% credits from BU, not from other places.

Structural Changes and Languages in UG

There will be no triple main arrangement for BA and BSc programs under NEP. During the first four semesters, BA and BSc students will study two core subjects of their choice. At the beginning of the third year/ 5th Semester, they may choose one of the core subjects as major and the other as minor. They could also continue both as major subjects in the third year. In the fourth year, for the honours program, they have to continue studies with the major or one of the majors of their choice, if they studied both the core subjects as majors in the third year. During the first six semesters, along with the core subjects, the students need to study open elective courses and skill enhancement/development courses as prescribed by the concerned faculty and approved by the Academic Council.

Languages

The Candidates shall study two languages in the first four semesters of the programs. The students who have studied Kannada at the Pre-University or equivalent level, shall opt Kannada as one of the languages and should mandatorily study Kannada for the first 4 semesters of the programmes. In addition to Kannada, the students shall opt for another language from the languages offered in college and study it in the first two semesters of the programmes. The students may continue to study the same language in the second year or may choose different language in the second year.

Students who have not studied Kannada at Pre-University or equivalent level, shall study Kannada as functional language in one of the first two semesters along with another language of their choice. They shall study any two languages of their choice in the remaining three semesters. Speech/hearing/visually impaired/mentally challenged and study disabled students are exempted from studying one of the languages.

Evaluation and Grades

Total marks for each course shall be based on continuous internal assessments and semester-end examinations. For theory examinations 40% marks come from internal assessment and 60% from Semester End examinations. And for papers that have practical examinations, 50% marks come from internal assessment and 50% from semester end examinations. Internal assessment includes Internal Exams, Attendance, Assignments and Presentations.

Pass Criteria

No candidate shall be declared to have passed the Semester Examination as the case may be under each course/paper unless he/she obtains not less than 35% marks in written examination / practical examination and 40% marks in the aggregate of written / practical examination and internal assessment put together in each of the courses and 40% marks (including IA) in Project work and viva wherever prescribed.

The declaration of result is based on the Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA) earned towards the end of each semester or the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) earned towards the completion of all the eight semesters of the programme and the corresponding overall alpha-sign grades. If some candidates exit at the completion of first, second or third year of the four years Undergraduate Programmes, with Certificate, Diploma or the Basic Degree, respectively, then the results of successful candidates at the end of second, fourth or sixth semesters shall also be classified on the basis of the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) obtained in the two, four, six or eight semesters, respectively.

NEP Structure and Credit Score

The undergraduate degree under NEP will be a multi-disciplinary program of four-year duration with multiple exit and entry options.

NEP- Internal Assessment (IA) Marks Break Up at SCC

The New Educational Policy emphasizes conceptual understanding; encourages creativity and critical thinking for decision-making and innovation; and has a particular focus on developing life skills such as communication, cooperation, teamwork, and resilience. One special focus area of NEP is in initiating research and building research capabilities among the students. In addition to the summative end-semester exams, NEP proposes regular formative assessment throughout the semester. NEP provides 40% Internal Assessment/ formative assessment marks and 60% summative end-semester exam marks for languages and core papers. In the case of practical core papers, the Internal Assessment score is 50% and 50% for End Semester Exams. Understanding the spirit of NEP, SCC, in alignment with the University norms, has devised its own comprehensive plan for Internal Assessment. The focus is to make the students skilful, to sensitise them to research and to make their educational experience as innovative as possible.

Open Electives- Each course- 3 Credits; (IA 40; ESE 60)

Every semester there is one Open Elective course (From outside one’s programme domain, for example, BBA students studying a Travel and Tourism course). Every semester, all the students are required to complete one activity from the following:

● Minimum 15 hours add on MOOC course from Coursera/NPTEL/other online learning platforms.

● Internship with industry/ government/ non-government organizations

● 15 hours’ Community Engagement Activity through NSS/NCC/CCCD/Red cross/Rotary Club/ Department related community projects.

After the completion of the activity, 10 marks are added to the Internal Assessment of the respective Open Elective every semester.

Skill Enhancement Courses- Each Course- 2 Credits (IA 20/25; ESE 30/25)

Every semester has a two-credits Skill Enhancement Course (Example, Digital Fluency/ Spread Sheet for Business). The Course is graded on 50 marks- IA 25 and ESE 25. Every semester, all the students are required to attend at least one add on program that the college/ the department offers. We will calculate the IA marks for these papers on 50 as detailed below and divide the total by two to arrive at the final IA marks.

Research Activity Ideas

Each department and the respective subject faculty are responsible to make the research activity connected to the paper being taught, and to ensure that it is student-engaging, meaningful and productive. Here are some ideas that one could explore further.

· Small research projects either individually or in teams

· A minimum use of online library resources (with evidence)

· Writing a literature review referring relevant resources

· A book review/ Summary and/or presentation

· Record an interview with a prominent individual

· A paper presentation either at the intra or inter-collegiate level

· Debate at the department level

· Seminars at the department level

· Case study

· Field Project

· Travel Blog Writing

· Travel Documentation

· Mini projects on software development

· Highlighting the key elements of a balance sheet and profit and loss account (Download these reports for a particular company) - For practical papers.

· Conducting a small survey using questionnaire method of data collection

· Business Article writing/ Business Article reviews.

· Comparative Balance sheet analysis of companies.

· Budget Analysis

Semester-wise MOOC Course/ Institutional Add on Course/ Internship/ Community Engagement (Extension Activity) Plan

· Every semester, one add on course offered by the institution/ department is mandatory

· I Semester: Minimum 15 hours add on MOOC course from Coursera/NPTEL/other online learning platforms.

· II Semester: Minimum 15 hours add on MOOC course from Coursera/NPTEL/other online learning platforms.

· End of II Semester: Internship/industrial practicum which will be counted for the III Semester

· III Semester: Community Engagement Activity (Extension Activity) of 15 hours

· End of IV Semester: Internship/industrial practicum which will be counted for the V Semester

· VI Semester: Minimum 15 hours add on MOOC course from Coursera/NPTEL/other online learning platforms.