Mita Mukherjee

Heads of several state-aided colleges in Kolkata are of the view that no way they will be able to implement the changes prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in its proposed Four-year Undergraduate Programme (FYUGP) without upgrading the infrastructure facilities and increasing the number of faculty members in their institutions.

Teaching another year in undergraduation would mean more teachers, increased number of classrooms and laboratories and also enhanced library facilities.

The college principals are apprehensive about the practicality of the proposal without the betterment of the facilities as most colleges are already facing acute space crunch and teacher constraints. These institutions have limited sources of income and are reeling under fund crunch and since they are entirely dependent on state funds they wouldn’t be able to upgrade their facilities without “extensive” support from the government.

The authorities of around a dozen colleges EducationWorld spoke with said if they have to introduce the proposed course this year, their infrastructure and other facilities will have to be upgraded within the next three years and immediate measures need to be taken to start the process of upgradation.

UGC on March 17 had released a draft curriculum framework for the four-year undergraduate programmes which is likely to be implemented in all higher education institutions in the country from the 2022-23 academic session.     

Under the proposed curriculum, the undergraduate programme will be divided into eight semesters replacing the existing three year choice-based credit system. Students, under the new system can leave the programme after one year after completing only some of the common courses with an undergraduate certificate, or after two years with an undergraduate diploma, or after three years with a bachelor’s degree or after four years with a bachelor’s with honours.

Explaining the difficulties in implementing the course, Siuli Sarkar, the principal of Lady Brabourne College, an 83-year old institution which is  fully funded by the state government and run directly by  West Bengal education department said her college offers honours courses in 21 subjects at present under the existing three-year structure.   

The college at present has 69 classrooms and 24 laboratories for teaching 21 subjects.

According to Sarkar the college would need at least 20 new classrooms and 21 additional teachers, one each for every subject if they had to implement the FYUGP.

Lady Brabourne College which is known as one of the best government colleges in Bengal and receives substantial amounts of funds from the Centre are wary about implementing the proposed four-year programme as they too do not have the funds to upgrade their facilities to the required level.

“Our college has received Central grants to the tune of nearly Rs 10 crores over the period of last five years. Very few colleges in our state have received so much government grant. But no way can we set up 20 classrooms and employ 21 new teachers. We don’t have the funds at all to develop our facilities to such an extent,” Sarkar told EducationWorld.

The crisis will be the same as in Lady Brabourne at several other colleges like Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narandrapur run by the Ramakrishna Mission monks, government-aided colleges like Asutosh College, Surendranath College and New Alipore College.   

Jaydeep Sarangi, principal of New Alipore College said like many colleges there is a crisis of classrooms and smart rooms in his institution.

“The  four-year degree course will be a great cause of concern if we don’t have minimum infrastructure to accommodate the additional fourth-year students,” Sarangi told EducationWorld.

At Surendranath College, Kolkata, there are 33 classrooms at present for teaching 24 subjects including both honours and pass papers.

“The four-year degree course is not a very difficult proposition,” said Indranil Kar, principal of Surendranath College, Kolkata. But according to him, “ We must get enough time to set up the required facilities. We need extensive support from the government if we have to start the course from the next academic session starting in July this year.’

The UGC had sought feedback from stakeholders by April 4 on its draft framework and credit system for four-year undergraduate programme.

The college heads said as of now the state government has not sought their views on the steps needed to be taken for successful implementation of the proposed system.