The All-India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) has severed memorandums to universities across the state in protest against the new system of Four-Year Degree Courses to be introduced at the college level.

As part of their protest programme, AIDSO leaders, along with students of the Panchanan Barma University in Coochbehar today served a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor there. According to the AIDSO leadership, students associated with their organisation will also stage a demonstration and serve representations at the college level across the state throughout this month.

According to them, the states higher education department is preparing to introduce four-year degree courses at the college level, following the recommendations of the National Education Policy2020.Serving the memorandum to the VC of Panchanan Barma University, AIDSO leaders demanded that the four-year degree course should not be started in any way.

AIDSO district committee leader Sampa Burman said she is also a student of the History department in the University, and that the Trinamool Congress state government had opposed the central government on various issues, but it had agreed on the issue of education. “Students pursuing a four year degree course in the college have to bear the burden of additional fees. Drop outwill increase. We demand the cancellation of this disastrous National Education Policy-2020,” Ms Barman said.

On the other hand, Puja Sarkar, a student of English in the University, and also a member of the AIDSO district committee, said, “The state government is opposing the BJP government at the Centre, but in fact, the central government is applying the education policy against the interests of the students in the state. Regarding higher education curriculum in the state incompliance with the UGC directive, the state education department announced a few days ago through a directive that henceforth the curriculum of undergraduate degree courses is being fixed for four years.”

“According to these guidelines, the facility of multi plenary and exit will be available only after the first year out of these four years. Even marks obtained from different colleges can be accumulated in the form of credits to earn total credits after four years. In fact, within this announcement of the state government, there is an overall plan to make students the buyers in the education market. The new system will convert the three-year degree course into a four-year course and burden the students with one year of additional cost. Higher education will become more expensive unaffordable for students from economically backward families. As a result, drop out will increase,” Ms Sarkar added.

“This is how the entire education system will be run. The dress code for changing electives every year is the ‘multidisciplinary system’~that is, collecting credit in any subject regardless of discipline, destroying the science- based interdisciplinary of subject selection. In fact, this approach will completely destroy the quality of education in higher education, turning colleges into infrastructure- less degree buying and selling