Workshop On Choice-based Credit System
R. Karpaga Kumaravel (right), Vice-Chancellor, Madurai Kamarajar University, releasing a CD at a workshop on Choice-based Credit System at Bharathiar University in Coimbatore on Saturday. B. Suresh (left), Vice-Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore, and G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor of the university, are in the picture. “All efforts should be undertaken to achieve quality higher education through a high-level of e-readiness in our institutions. Our teachers should prepare themselves with on-line tutoring skills needed for the brick and click type of institutions that are going to emerge in the education scenario,” R. Karpaga Kumaravel, Vice-Chancellor, Madurai Kamaraj University, said here on Saturday.
Inaugurating a workshop for principals and faculty at the Bharathiar University on “Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) and Basic Science Courses”, he said that there should not be any trace of obsolescence in our institutions. He lamented that among the top 110 universities in the world, there was not even one from India.
“For today’s job, we should make use of today’s tools. If we make use of yesterday’s tools, tomorrow we will be out of business. Private companies are trying the education sector as the next best sector for businesses to be in,” the Vice-Chancellor said. Comparing the CBCS to a buffet, he said it was student-friendly where they could choose the papers of their choice, within certain broad restrictions. “It is a social and educational necessity. It suits the changing knowledge scenario. A student can no longer ignore computer science or ethics”.
He termed it to be an ideal method to narrow down the gap between education and employment. The system facilitated students to move from one discipline to another, choose from a variety of electives, and also credit transfer from one institution to the other, both national and international. B. Suresh, Vice-Chancellor, JSS University, Mysore, speaking on the importance of basic science courses, remarked that the CBCS would make science courses more attractive with students being able to choose electives from other disciplines.
“All our major revolutions, like the Green, White, Blue, Pink, and Black, have been possible because of science. In spite of this the attraction towards basic sciences in diminishing. We can increasingly see parents pushing their wards towards Information Technology courses, even when they are interested in the basic sciences that also include mathematics,” Dr. Suresh said. He asserted that all the major environmental challenges the world was facing today could only be dealt with by science. “We should concentrate on developing brain bank pools using the best brains from all the universities. We should show more interest in encouraging inter-university collaboration within the country than those with international universities,” he added. He bemoaned the lack of infrastructure being provided by colleges for basic science courses. There should be good science infrastructure to attract more students. He also called for setting up more number of Indian Institute of Sciences.
G. Thiruvasagam, Vice-Chancellor of Bharathiar University, said that there was a lot of apprehension among the principals and faculty in adopting the CBCS in colleges. “There was a lot of resistance even when autonomy was being introduced. But, today it is a big success. There is always a struggle when you are beginning something new. More workshops in Erode and Pollachi / Udumalpet are being planned to orient the faculty.”
Pointing out that only 25 per cent of seats in the basic science courses in the colleges were filled, he said that nearly Rs. 21 lakh was being spent on revamping the syllabus. “China and South Korea have made heavy investments in basic sciences,” he said. V. Sengodan, Principal, SNR and Sons College, and P. Thirumalvalavan, Registrar, Bharathiar University, spoke.
