ATTITUDE TOWARDS 4-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM OF STUDENTS OF THE COLLEGE UNDER NEP 2020

Abstract

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has proposed a major transformation in the higher education system of India by introducing the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUGP) that aims to foster multidisciplinary education, flexibility in learning, skill development, research orientation, and increased employability. This study was conducted to understand the college students' attitude towards FYUGP and to study the difference in attitude based on the gender, locality and academic stream. A descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. A total of 800 undergraduate students were selected by random sampling from 40 constituent colleges of Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga. A standardized attitude scale (developed by the researcher) was used to collect data. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, percentage analysis, independent samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings showed that a significant majority of the students had favourable attitude towards FYUGP showing the overall acceptance of the education reforms as outlined in NEP 2020. Results indicated that there were meaningful variations in attitudes for demographic factors and academic variables. Female students were more positive in attitude than males and urban students were significantly more favourable than rural students. Moreover, the students of the Science stream had the most positive attitudes, while the students of the Commerce and Arts streams had fewer positive attitudes. The findings indicate that the overall perception of students regarding the FYUGP is a positive and forward-looking initiative, which is beneficial for their academic and professional growth. The study finds that the successful implementation of the FYUGP needs to be sustained by ongoing awareness creation programmes, academic counselling, institutional support, and infrastructural readiness to allow for the consideration of concerns of the various groups of students.