Team Herald
PANJIM: Beginning with the 2016-17 academic year, Goa University (GU) will introduce Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) at the undergraduate level allowing students to choose a paper of their interest and aptitude from another faculty.
The CBCS’ implementation, in line with the recommendation of the University Grants Commission (UGC), was discussed at length during the GU Academic Council (AC) meeting held on Wednesday.
GU Vice Chancellor Satish Shetye said there was consensus from undergraduate colleges to go-ahead with the programme and a follow-up meeting has been scheduled on October 15 to finalize the framework.
“A separate committee, set up for this purpose had circulated draft guidelines to the managements, principals, teachers and students, for views and suggestions. The GUAC meeting (on Wednesday) was essentially to assess the feedback. It was a general consensus to implement the programme from the next academic year,” he told Herald.
The new system aims at providing students opportunities matching their scholastic needs and aspiration by giving them the liberty to choose subjects from a wide range of elective courses offered. “A student can undergo additional/value added courses to acquire more than required number of credits, depending upon his or her aptitude,” an education expert said.
At the next meeting in mid-October, the committee will put forth any fresh views or recommendations received from institutions. Thereafter a final framework will be prepared that will incorporate these inputs that will be later placed before the executive council and then to GU Chancellor, Governor Mridula Sinha.
“If there is financial liability, we will need government’s approval. This process will have to be carried out before reaching the last stage of approval,” GU Registrar V P Kamat said.
He explained that once an ordinance is ready the syllabi will be revamped and the syllabus will be framed by the Boards of Studies (BoS).
Shetye added that while the process of approvals is underway, the council has advised the BoS to gear up for the CBCS implementation. “This is a progressive step which allows students to design the curriculum as per his/her needs. There are restrictions on the choice though,” he added.
Goa is one of the few states to introduce the programme. “Students undergoing courses under the existing system will continue till they complete the final year. The new system will cover first year admissions only. In the next two-three years, the entire undergraduate level will be covered under the CBCS giving ample time to educational institutions to adjust to the new system and upgrade infrastructure, if any,” Shetye said.
About 8,500 students joined undergraduate courses in all three streams – BSc, BCom and BA – this academic year, a 30 percent increase in admissions from last year.
Kamat said the implementation of CBCS at undergraduate level will not be difficult as GU has already introduced the programme at the post graduate level. This programme will not include professional colleges as they follow separate guidelines by corresponding councils.
What is CBCS
Propagated by the UGC, CBCS allows students to learn at their own pace and enables them to choose elective papers from courses offered by other departments. In essence, it promotes an inter-disciplinary approach in learning. UGC has proposed guidelines for the system that also include semester system of examinations along with the grading system for marking instead of numbers. Students will have the option of shifting to another university in any part of the country for the duration of that programme.
