West Bengal has only adopted 4-year UG programme as part of NEP 2020: Education Minister

KOLKATA: West Bengal has only adopted 4-year honours courses at the undergraduate level as part of the NEP 2020, and no other recommendation made in it, state education minister Bratya Basu told the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Monday.

The 4-year honours course recommendation was adopted in the interest of 7 lakh students who have to compete with their counterparts from other states at the national level, he said.

"But, we have not accepted the NEP, we have not adopted the other proposals," he said. Later, speaking to reporters, Basu said, "We have not adopted the 5+3+3+4 education policy. We have also not accepted the centralised board system for schools, which is an important feature of the NEP."

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommends five years for strengthening base, three years in the preparatory phase, three years in the middle stage, and the last four years in school in the secondary stage. Reasoning the implementation of 4-year honours course, he said, "Chief minister Mamata Banerjee wants our students to be ready for competitive exams at the all-India level."