MU to allow PG students to select subjects across disciplines

MUMBAI: The University of Mumbai (MU) will introduce Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) in post-graduation courses from the coming academic year. CBCS will give students

MUMBAI: The University of Mumbai (MU) will introduce Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) in post-graduation courses from the coming academic year. CBCS will give students the option of studying subjects across disciplines. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the varsity’s academic council.

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) had recommended that universities across the country introduce CBCS. Besides, a perspective plan for higher education in the state, prepared by committee educationist Narendra Jadhav emphasised the need of inter-disciplinary studies. “We live in an inter-disciplinary world. None of the world’s problems can be solved by studying only one discipline. That’s why we want students to study various subjects,” said Vivek Belekar, assistant professor, MU’s psychology department.

The varsity is likely to implement CBCS in the undergraduate courses too. However, the council is yet to take a final decision on it.

According to a member of the academic council, the university is planning to change the syllabus of all the programmes to allow implementation of CBCS. “During the first year of undergraduate courses, the students will have to study subjects from that particular stream. However, in the subsequent years, they will be allowed to earn credits by taking up subjects from other departments,” he said.

Some principals are not convinced on the need introduce CBCS. Gopakumaran Thampi, principal, Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, said, “Most students in India don’t perform well even when it comes to subjects in their areas of expertise. Besides, here’s a huge gap between the curriculum taught in the universities and practical life. Instead of introducing CBCS, the varsity must address these fundamental issues,” he said.