INITIATIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION
12. The University Grants Commission promoted the process of restructuring courses and recommending them for adoption to universities/colleges in the Fifth Five Year Plan. Financial support was provided to institutions to facilitate such adoption. The process, initiated in the Fifth Five Year Plan, aimed at making "the first degree courses more relevant to environment and to the developmental needs of the country and to link education with work/field/practical experience and productivity." The programme aimed at providing to every undergraduate student a grounding in the following areas:
i) A set of foundation courses designed to create an awareness of areas such as Indian History and Culture, History of the Freedom Struggle in Indian and other parts of the world, Social and Economic life in India including concepts and processes of development, Alternative value systems and societies based thereon, Cultures of Asia and Africa (selected countries) and Gandhian Thought;
ii) A set of core courses to give an opportunity to students to acquire broad familiarity with some chosen discipline, including study of one or more of them in depth;
iii) Some applied studies/projects/field activity to form an integral activity of the course and to be carried out in the final year; and
iv) Involvement in a programme of national or social service for the first two years.
13. By March 1991, 9 universities and 208 colleges had introduced restructured courses. Considering the number of institutions that exist, the impact of the programme has not been even marginal. With a view to motivating many more institutions to introduce these courses, the University Grants Commission enhanced the ceiling of financial assistance from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs.7.50 lakhs per course for each of the institutions. Institutions were expected to formulate their own syllabi for restructured courses. The Commission reviewed the programme recommended that restructuring of courses be undertaken on the pattern of curriculum development centres.
14. The programme of establishing Curriculum Development Centres in different disciplines was initiated in 1986 to
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"i) carry out a thorough review of existing syllabi and courses in different universities at various levels of higher education;ii) suggest measures for modernising and restructuring these courses into unit courses; and
iii) to develop alternative models emphasizing different aspects to study of the subject concerned."
15. The emphasis in redesigning of courses has been on learning rather than on teaching. Students were expected to undertake significant part of learning on their own, through home assignments, tutorials, term papers, problem solving sessions etc. Project/field work is an essential ingredient of the courses. It was also suggested that applied component be introduced in redesigned courses. However, in both sets of exercises the applied comonent was not incorporated in courses adequately.
16. By March 1991, 27 centres had been set up in various subjects (10 in Sciences and 17 in Humanities and Social Sciences). Model curricula received from these centres were discussed at national level workshops and circulated to universities for implementation. The Commission again published the reports of the Curriculum Development Centres at subsidised prices for widely dissemination.
17. The results of the two exercises under taken at the initiative and support of the University Grants Commission have generally not been commensurate with the resources invested. In both, the applied content was not adequately incorporated in the suggested courses.