Dr Asangba Tzudir
Nagaland University is finally going to adopt the new Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and is said to be implemented from the next semester of 2022. The official notification from Nagaland University was for implementation from 2021 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also because of certain ‘technicalities’ it was postponed to 2022.
The CBCS offers a flexible approach to learning call it the ‘Cafeteria’ approach where students have freedom to choose inter-disciplinary, intra-disciplinary and skill-oriented courses making education broader and interesting. It is aimed at ushering in a multi-disciplinary approach to the curriculum, providing students a diversity of opportunities including more honors options in the P.G degree.
At the grassroots, looking at the pros, the new CBCS can be seen as a major shift from the teacher centric to learner centric education. Learners can offer as many credit as they can cope up the pressure of learning as well as examination. It permits students to choose soft courses of different interdisciplinary and intra disciplinary subjects with the core subjects besides the freedom to choose courses and papers as per their choice and interest and career plans.
Allowing the mobility of students from one institution to another one to add variety to their learning helps learners realize their true potentials. All round development of learners or multi facets personality of learners can be promoted. The knowledge of different soft courses will be helpful even for employment avenues. Having a set of papers based on one’s interests would definitely reduce stress and anxiety of learners while also enhancing their work ethics.
The system has also opened up for a balanced course brought in by the skill enhancement subjects. Besides the learning experiences, equality among the learners can be ensured through the grading system.
On the other side, in spite of the advantages that it brings, it comes with its own set of paramount challenges. Firstly, more courses and credit means that the work load especially of teachers will greatly increase. Such an increase in the workload may add to the stress level of both teachers and students. As such, while it is necessary to know thoroughly about the system, pre-counseling sessions in relation psychological and mental health is very important in order to avoid mental breakdown in trying to handle the academic pressure and workload.
As much as academic/teaching related works are important, so also the non teaching/committee related works. While the classroom hours under the new system will be further stretched, it will be really difficult to have time for committee related works even if there is adequate number of teaching faculty. On the whole, the extra burden caused by lengthy teaching hours may leave the various Committee activities wanting for time.
No doubt a major concern will be the infrastructure. Unless intake to a particular course is kept limited, Colleges will be compelled to divide into sections which will only add to the additional requirement of classrooms. Further, it will be difficult especially for the Government colleges to offer only Honors course because there will be a lot of students who will be interested only in taking up general course.
Initially Colleges will have to deal only with one batch at the start of the new system, so infrastructural development especially classrooms maybe done accordingly and not having to do at once. But a major challenge for all the Colleges in Nagaland and also the department of Higher Education will be to assess and have the required strength of teaching faculty.
The new system is designed to inculcate new forms of knowledge from a ‘learner centric’ approach but it demands a renewed commitment on the part of all stakeholders to adapt to the new system with unforeseen challenges and unpredictable outcome. Teachers thus need to quickly adapt to the new system and also come out of the comfort zone and prepare to teach unfamiliar topics.
In adopting the new system, the first batch of students needs to be given proper orientation so as to ease out the complications in the admission process. While addressing the pros and cons of the new system, one can see that there has to be some innovative balancing to fit the needs and limits of each institution. In perspective, the new system comes with its own challenges, however, it is hoped that with time the new system will be well-adapted.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir writes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
