PRAYAGRAJ, July 23 -- In a significant development, the Academic Council of the University of Allahabad, chaired by vice-chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava convened a meeting at the Senate Hall's North Hall and formally approved the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 across all undergraduate programmes, on Tuesday. With this move, all undergraduate programmes across the faculties of Arts, Science, and Commerce will now follow a new structure based on NEP-2020. The university will introduce a 4-year Honours with Research Degree Programme spread across eight semesters for new students taking admissions from this new session while old students would continue to pursue their UG courses in the earlier format itself, said AU PRO Prof Jaya Kapoor. This marks the second phase of NEP implementation at AU, which had earlier introduced six integrated programmes three years back, including 5 year BA-LLB, 5-year Integrated BTech MTech in Computer Science, 5-year integrated UG-PG in Commerce, 4-year Integrated BFA, 5-year Integrated UG-PG in Family and Community Science and 4 year course in BPA, she added. A key highlight of the newly approved academic framework is its flexibility. Students will have multiple entry and exit options as per NEP guidelines-earning a certificate after the first year if they wish to drop out, a diploma after the second, a regular degree after the third, and an Honours degree after the fourth year. The entire programme will carry a credit load of 160 credits, with 20 credits assigned to each semester, shared varsity officials. Students will be able to select two major subjects and one minor subject at the start of the programme. The minor will be taught in the first four semesters, after which it will be dropped. From the fifth semester onwards, students will focus on their majors, and in the final year, based on merit, will pursue Honours in one of the major subjects, they explained. Officials maintained that the university's revised curriculum goes beyond traditional classroom teaching to promote holistic personality development and boost employability. In line with NEP's emphasis on industry relevance, the programme will also incorporate components like Indian Knowledge Systems, discipline-specific electives, ability enhancement and value-added courses. These offerings will be open to students across all streams, they added. Over the past four and a half years, the university has ensured infrastructure improvements including upgraded sports facilities and the establishment of two modern language laboratories for foreign and Indian languages. In addition, new skill-based courses have been introduced in performing arts, fine arts, and fashion designing. The curriculum expansion under NEP also includes over 150 new elective courses across diverse domains. These 2-credit electives range from sports training in Hockey, Cricket, and Badminton, to sports analytics, baking, food processing, fabric painting, and regional cuisines like South Indian and Chinese cooking. Students can also opt for music, folk arts, instrumental training, and philosophical studies such as Dharma Shastra and the Upanishads. Modern offerings include computer languages, creative writing, poetry recitation, personality development, and public speaking. All electives will carry a nominal fee and will be open to all students, regardless of their primary discipline. Additionally, students may choose to enroll in skill courses through government-recognized platforms such as NPTEL, SWAYAM, and MOOCs, as part of their learning journey....