Bengaluru: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has come out with a revised syllabus for the coming academic year for all engineering colleges in the country, introducing more internships and reducing the credits required for a student to complete his/her undergraduate degree from 220 to 160.
The new model curriculum, drawn up in consultation with industry experts, seems to be attempting to increase the employability of engineering students , making it mandatory for them to complete six to eight weeks of summer internships before the end of their course to equip them with practical understanding of industry practices. A chapter on “virtual laboratories,” to help students pick up skills that are not part of the curriculum but essential as professionals has also been introduced.
Interestingly, yoga classes and lessons in holistic health care, modern science, the Vedas, Puranas and Tarka Shastra, find a place as well in the new curriculum. But these have not been received well by all students, who feel they add to their burden of study.
“Such courses are purely affiliated to a particular religion with no scientific validity and should be condemned. It is high time our authorities realise that we prefer technical education because we believe in science and not
fiction,” said Mr Shravan Kumar, co-convener of VTU Students’ Struggle Committee.
But the principal of UVCE , Dr K.R. Venugopal feels inclusion of such subjects will help engineering graduates lead better lives. “As the total credits required have been brought down now, such courses should be run as single-credit ones and 10 to 15 credits should be kept aside and awarded to students on their completion,” he suggested.
