With NEP implementation, Pune’s SP College tweaks curriculum to focus on skills, vocation

“The demand is very high for majors in subjects like psychology, political science, sociology and computer science. The cutoff for these subjects at the undergraduate level this year has been above 90%,” said Principal Sunil Gaikwad.

In tune with current trends in job-oriented skills, the English department has introduced a vocational course on technical and content writing. Courses to enhance listening, speaking, reading and writing (LSRW) skills as well as critical thinking and problem solving will also be taught.

“To the first-year syllabus, we have introduced a component of film studies and a paper on research methodology, both of which were earlier part of the postgraduate course,” said Sarvesh Gosavi, a faculty member of the English department.

Another significant element introduced by the NEP is that of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS). In accordance with this, every department has designed its own course exploring IKS from the perspective of its discipline. The English department has designed a course on ancient theatre traditions of India while the one at the philosophy department looks at ancient Indian philosophers.

“The introduction of so many new measures, especially the system of major and minor subjects, initially caused confusion among students so we held several online counselling sessions with prospective students,” said Smital Pawar, a faculty member of the college. “Considering the magnitude of the task, especially at short notice, preparing the workload and timetables was a bit of a challenge for faculty but things are smooth now. Framing the syllabus was an especially enjoyable process.”