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American Model To Replace The Present Three-Year Degree

Mumbai: The three-year BSc course will soon be phased out and replaced by the American model of a fouryear programme in which students will receive common grounding in all subjects of science in the first year, followed by specialisation in their area of interest, with the flexibility to choose electives.
Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science, which mostly offers masters and research programmes, as also the Indian Institutes of Technology may start offering the four-year programme from the next year and other universities across India will follow suit, sources said.
Though it is not clear whether students will be admitted on the basis of an entrance exam, like in the US, sources say that the likelihood of holding a common test for admission is a possibility, to ensure that students with a scientific bent of mind get in.
The idea of introducing this course started some time in early March when the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) wrote to the National Academy of Sciences, India and the Indian National Science Academy stating that the half-a-decade-old American model be looked at seriously. The three science academies are responsible for charting out the course science education in the country must take.
“Several people, scientists and academicians, have spoken about having a four-year undergraduate science course over time. But individual thoughts and efforts have remained insignificant in this regard. Hence it was thought that the science academies of the country take up the issue,” said N Mukunda, chairman of the science education panel at the IAS.
The three academies and vice chancellors of several universities are meeting later this month to discuss the concept and the broad framework for its implementation. “The intention is to offer the course in some of the top institutes of the country to begin with, and then spread it out to universities and colleges,” added Mukunda.
After IAS wrote to the other two academies, each went ahead and discussed the same among its own members. NASI president Ashok Misra said his academy discussed the idea in their last month’s meeting and most members were of the opinion that the four-year course would bring in a lot more professionalism like the B.Tech course. “Most of our engineers are lapped up by the industry, why shouldn’t it be the case with our science graduates? The four-year programme will be a high quality one and it will allow bright students to take up Ph.D immediately after graduation, thus saving a year,” Misra added. Besides, the programme will be designed such that there will be enough roomfor practical and project work, unlike the current system, which is mainly text-oriented, he added.
According to professors in the science academies, students will study physics, chemistry, life sciences, mathematics, earth science and other core subjects in the first one or one-and-a-half years, followed by specialisation in their interest areas. But like the US model, they will be able to choose electives based on their interest. Explained Mukunda, “Currently, if a student takes up life sciences, he is cut off from Maths. But the new system will allow him to pursue a mix of life science and maths or physics and life sciences.”