A government-constituted expert panel tasked with recommending new courses in colleges has advocated reducing the overbearing focus on examinations and evaluating students on the basis of creative learning.
An emphasis on soft skills, thrust on emerging fields of study, and a shift towards research-based learning are other suggestions being mooted.
The six-member committee chaired by Mahatma Gandhi University Vice Chancellor Sabu Thomas submitted its report to the government on a wide range of issues pertaining to higher education in Kerala.
While proposing numerous courses befitting the changing job landscape, the panel calls for reshaping pedagogical practices to ensure both teachers and students are co-learners, rather than mere recipients and providers of knowledge.
The report, accessed by The Hindu, highlights the need to hone the reading-writing skills of students. To develop their critical faculties, institutional facilities should be established to encourage research-based academic writing and critical reading of texts.
Relevance of subjects
To gauge the relevance of subjects being taught, a system to keep track of the career evolution of graduates is required.
The current scenario made it appear as if teachers’ employment was the sole purpose of running higher education institutions.
The reforms recommended at the undergraduate level include introducing a four-year Honours programmes in high-ranking universities and colleges to circumvent the difficulties posed by foreign universities that do not recognise three-year courses.
Job-oriented
Other options mooted include introducing job-oriented programmes, optional minor courses that could be taken in addition to a major degree, course-based undergraduate research, four-year courses with facility to opt for a specialisation in the fourth year, programmes in innovative areas such as sports management, museum anthropology, rural development, digital and interactive design.
For postgraduate programmes, the committee has recommended integrated MA, MSc programmes in high-performing universities and colleges and launching MTech programmes on technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and Internet of Things. Programmes that ensure academic mobility by ensuring the participation of three or more universities to jointly award degrees also figure among the recommendations.
Committee members
The committee also had APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Vice Chancellor Rajasree M.S., Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences Director Asha Kishore, IISER Thiruvananthapuram Director J.N. Moorthy, former Dean of School of Languages and Comparative Literature, Central University, Kasaragod, M. Dasan, and Kerala Council for Historical Research Director P. Sanal Mohan.
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