To bring in uniformity, Govt orders university curriculum upgrade

The government has decided to appoint former UGC chairman and physicist Prof Yashpal, who headed the National Curriculum Framework which revised the NCERT textbooks, as the head of 8220;curriculum-upgrade exercise8221; at the university level as well.

The idea behind the exercise is that 8220;uniformity in curriculum8221; will help in 8220;seamless horizontal mobility of students in courses as well as universities8221;.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Prof Yashpal said: 8220;Life inside college and outside it, there is nothing in common. The outside world8217;s jobs, issues, problems are so different. In short, the curriculum should cover life outside the college and university campuses.8221;

At a recent meeting of vice-chancellors from universities across the country, Prof Yashpal made the point that there was a 8220;disconnect in higher education curriculum with the real and contemporary world8221;.

It is learnt that the curriculum upgrade will include 8220;new-age concepts8221; in undergraduate curriculum: from the recently-discussed concepts of nuclear energy, global warming and climate change to globalisation economics, stocks and patents. The university curriculum, once upgraded, will enable universities to have undergraduate courses in stocks or climate change, sources said.