Universities (JNTU) resist US college model, Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) by UGC

Deccan Chronicle | DC CORRESPONDENT | December 14, 2014 |

Hyderabad: Notwithstanding the UGC’s exhortations, universities here are averse to change. The rigidity has become deeply rooted in their minds. Students pursuing a two year Master’s course abroad can graduate in just one-and-a-half years if they score the benchmark credits. But it is not possible here. Despite the University Grants Commission vociferously pushing for the implementation of the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), which provides such flexibility, universities are persisting with the rigid system of fixed number of classes per semester, thereby not adhering to the CBCS. Universities are superficially allotting credits to each subject but are not allowing students the flexibility to study faster or slower. Universities also reason that the conflicting rules framed by different bodies don’t allow this flexibility. The CBCS attaches credits to each subject (corresponding to number of classes per week) and completion of a course requires a benchmark number of credits. Universities abroad allow students to take as many subjects and corresponding classes as they want in one semester and complete the course as fast as possible.

In a recent letter to universities, the UGC had asked universities to adopt the CBCS in totality. UGC also exhorted universities to allow students to pursue ‘elective’ subjects, which are not directly related to their field of study. For instance, mechanical engineering students can choose an elective in Biology if the university provides it. But JNTU, Hyderabad, is now toying with the idea of letting Master’s students pursue the course as fast as they can. “In the US, if a student thinks he can take two semesters’ classes in one semester, he can do that. He can study during summer too. But here it is not possible because unless a student studies for complete two years, it is not recognised as a degree,” JNTU-H Rector Dr T. Kishen Kumar Reddy said. However, he added that the university would consider introducing such flexibility in Master’s courses.
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