Shimla, March 7 -- Himachal Pradesh will roll out National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 aligned UG programmes starting from 2026-27. Education minister Rohit Thakur stated this while chairing a meeting of the state-level task force constituted for implementing the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 in Himachal Pradesh. He issued necessary directions aimed at strengthening higher education in the state. He directed officials and academic representatives to ensure effective implementation of NEP-2020 in government degree colleges affiliated with Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla and Sardar Patel University, Mandi. Thakur directed that NEP-2020 aligned programmes be introduced from the 2026-27 session. These include the three-year undergraduate (UG), four-year UG with honours/honours with research and five-year integrated bachelor's-master's programmes. The four-year UG programme will start in colleges with higher enrolment. He also stressed adopting the Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework LOCF and integrating vocational education, skill development, internships and apprenticeship-embedded degrees to improve student employability. He emphasised the need to align the state's higher education system with the national academic framework envisioned under NEP-2020. He said that the semester system has already been successfully implemented at the postgraduate level and said that extending it to undergraduate programmes would bring greater academic flexibility and efficiency. Thakur also directed institutions and universities to adopt modern evaluation processes such as technical evaluation, spot evaluation and strengthened internal assessment mechanisms. He said these systems should help universities declare examination results within 30 days, reducing delays and improving transparency in the evaluation process. He further said that 389 posts will be filled soon, and the matter has already been sent to the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission. He also directed the introduction of an internal ranking system for colleges to improve academic standards and institutional performance....