UGC to grant KU esteemed status

By J. Ajith Kumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 15. The University Grants Commission (UGC) will soon grant University of Kerala the esteemed status of "University with Potential for Excellence".

In response to the initiative by the UGC in this regard, the university has just submitted a detailed proposal outlining its perspective as well as the plan of action aimed at achieving this coveted status.

The thrust of the action plan is on the restructuring of Kerala University. What is envisioned is not just a modification or revision of the syllabi, but a thorough restructuring of the curricula, courses, pedagogy and all other related aspects. The restructured scheme is to be flexible, dynamic and responsive, so much so that it can "exclude the sunset areas and include the sunrise ones", says Dr. B. Ekbal, Vice-chancellor. "In other words, it must be based both on relevance and quality", he added.

The university has felt the urgent need to shift the focus from teaching to learning and making education student-centred rather than teacher-oriented, while pursuing the potential for excellence and community out-reach. Since the hallmark of higher education in Kerala is its broad social base, this needs to be maintained without compromise, the Vice-Chancellor said.

The proposed scheme will be informed by a `cafeteria and school approach' rather than a discipline and department-oriented approach. Similarly, short-term, modular courses will replace the extant practice of teaching full-length papers.

The curriculum is to reflect the philosophy, objectives and goals of higher education. The university intends to prepare systematic, faculty-wise and discipline-wise curricula, keeping in view the need to fall in line with the world, national and regional mainstreams. The need for the curricula to reflect the societal needs has been well recognised by the university. Various social, professional, technical and academic groups are to be involved in the preparation of multi-level curricula.

It is deemed better to replace the present system with short- term modular courses through a two-pronged approach -- a terminal Post-graduate programme and an integrated programme leading to M.Phil. and Ph.D. The courses have been visualised to be structured on three components -- foundational courses, core courses and applied courses.

The foundational courses will give students grounding in common, basic fields like computer application, survey methods and data processing, graphics and the like. The core courses are meant to impart deep and state-of-the-art knowledge in the discipline of specialisation. The applied courses will comprise varied short- duration, career-oriented courses. It is here that a cafeteria approach is pertinent.

The foundational courses will be aiming at familiarity, core courses at depth and the applied courses at breadth. While the teachers of the university will engage the core courses, for teaching the other two sets of courses, the services of the professionals and experts in the relevant fields will be availed of. Project work and internship will be an integral part of the course work. The new system will also call for the adoption of multi-media teaching methods.

Under the restructured system, examination must be only a part of evaluation, not only by the teachers but also by the experts and professionals who get involved in the teaching of the foundational and applied courses. Such a comprehensive evaluation is necessary, inter-alia, because in the fast changing global scenario, the employers' concern is competence rather than qualification. Nevertheless, care will be taken to ensure that the university's core identity, as the centre for the pursuit of higher levels of scholarship, is maintained in tact. "Therefore the requirement is to synthesise the university's thought-ware with industry's software", Dr.Ekbal observes.

It is proposed to restructure all the courses in the affiliated colleges into semester pattern with continuous evaluation and end semester external valuation, as is being done in the post- graduate departments of the university. The credit system will also be introduced in the affiliated colleges.

Doctoral training programmes will be further streamlined by introducing several pre-PhD requirements like course work, for a minimum number of credits, particularly on methodology, remedial courses and the like, requirements of participation and presentation of works in seminars and publication of the research work before the thesis is submitted.

The possibility of bringing together allied research departments into centres of excellence by forming schools or similar institutional arrangements that may have a strong group of academics and infrastructural strength thereby creating a potential for taking up major research tasks is also being considered by the university.

Changes have been contemplated in the admission formalities as well. Admission will be on the basis of merit, following mandatory reservations. It is proposed to conduct GATE model or other similar tests to select students to the post-graduate courses.

The university also proposes to introduce a series of new courses, depending on the requirement of students and the availability of facilities as well as expertise.

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