NDA curriculum revamp in pipeline, changes in line with evolving nature of warfare

Cadets can choose between Bachelor’s degrees including BA with History, Political Science Economics and Geography, BSc with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and BSc Computer Science with Computer Science, Physics and Mathematics as subjects. The Air Force and Navy cadets can also opt for BTech degrees where they complete three years at the academy and the last year at their respective service academies. Besides their stream subjects, cadets also study English, Hindi, foreign languages, basic engineering and cross-streams subjects, making the academic syllabus of the NDA as demanding as the military curriculum.

The Academy was established as the Inter Services Wing (ISW) of the armed forces on January 1 in 1949 at Clement Town in Dehradun. It was later renamed as Joint Services Wing (JSW). While the first course had commenced on January 9, 1949, the academy was shifted to the present Khadakwasla campus in Pune in 1954. Since its raising, the NDA has undergone major revamps of the curriculum for the cadets at regular intervals in line with the strategic paradigms of the time. Significant among these being one after the recommendation of the Mahajani Committee in 1969 and another by the Committee for the Review of the Training of Officers of the three Services (CORTOS) in 1986.

The present syllabus of NDA is the result of periodic reviews by two committees, namely, the Inter-Services Study Group (ISSG) constituted by the Chiefs of Staff Committee in 2004, 2013 and 2017 as well as the Academic Study Groups (ASG) that were constituted along with each ISSG.

Addressing the passing out cadets of the 146th course of the NDA on Friday, Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pande said, “The character of warfare is undergoing a profound change. Disruptive technologies, advancements in space, cyber and information domains and progression in the capabilities of conventional means of war are making the battle space more complex, contested and lethal. In order to operate in the battlefield of tomorrow, you need to enhance your technical competency thresholds.”

While delivering the academic report of the 146th term during its convocation ceremony on Thursday, NDA principal Prof Om Prakash Shukla said, “The hallmark of academic training at the NDA is its continual review and realignment with emerging requirements of the services as well as changing scenarios in the academic world. During the bygone term several vital issues of academic curriculum have been deliberated as part of the ISSG leading to enhancement of academic threshold through various proposals. This includes a thorough revamping of academic syllabi through the forthcoming ASG.” Officials said that the proposed updated curriculum is currently being reviewed by the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.

Shukla further said, “In line with the Chiefs of Staff Committee directives of developing the academic mindset and the spirit of inquisitiveness among cadets, which are indispensable for future military leaders, an innovative instruction methodology is being evolved that would lay emphasis on these aspects. Besides, benchmarking of academic performance has been institutionalised during this term that envisages an increased number of cadets in the high performing brackets. I am delighted to share that the result of this term has been much above the benchmark adopted for the academic training, with around 32 per cent of the cadets in the bracket of 75 per cent marks and above.”

Officials said that the revamp of the syllabus would include strategically crucial subjects like Network Central Warfare, which denotes effective use of information technology and computer networking tools to form networks of various force elements in play on the battlefield. Other key additions include AI and machine learning with their applications in autonomous systems, predictive analytics, image recognition, tactical decision support, simulation and strategic planning. The revamp also includes subjects related to warfare in the domains of cyber, space and information equip cadets to effectively navigate and counter emerging threats in modern conflict scenarios with strategic proficiency, officials said.