Mangalore Varsity: Credit-based scheme from next year

Mangaluru, Oct 20: Can a student doing his postgraduate course in Kananda also study Economics? It is not possible under the present circumstances, at least in Mangalore University. However, it may soon become a possibility as the university is planning to bring all the 35 postgraduate courses under the 'choice-based credit semester scheme' from the next academic year. The university's plan will help students study inter-disciplinary subjects.

But there is one condition. This mobility is allowed only within a particular stream. Arts students will not be able to choose a science or commerce subject under the proposed plan. Thus, a student doing M A in Kannada can opt for a subject from the arts stream only.

However, inter-stream mobility may be allowed as and when the university opts for “virtual cafeteria type" of the choice-based semester system. The sources said that when this was done, an M.A. Kannada student would be able to opt for one subject either from science or commerce stream. But the university was not considering adopting it now, the sources added.

The university plans to ensure that a student got at least 70 per cent knowledge of the subject for which he or she had been enrolled. The rest of 30 per cent knowledge could be from the subject of his or her choice, sources said.

The university proposes to simultaneously introduce credit-based system for postgraduate courses, university sources said.

At present, postgraduate courses at the university are under the semester scheme. Under this, the annual scheme is split into two parts of six months each and examinations are conducted every six months. They are neither credit-based nor choice-based as of now, according to sources.

The university has constituted a committee of deans of its various faculties to work out the scheme. The committee will consult different boards of studies and chairpersons of various departments before finalising the scheme.

In addition to the courses being offered at Mangalagangotri now, the university proposes to implement the new scheme for postgraduate courses at its Field Marshal K M Cariappa College at Madikeri. Some private and government degree colleges, affiliated to the university, also offer select postgraduate courses.

Credit-based scheme

Credits normally represent the weightage of a course. The weightage is assessed based on the student"s attendance, marks scored and participation in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Under credit-based semester scheme, already introduced for undergraduate courses, one credit is equivalent to 50 marks in a semester. Attendance to a specified number of hours of instruction will earn one credit to a student. Extra-curricular activities also earn them credits. The three-year undergraduate degree course has a maximum of 100 credits. However, this may vary for postgraduate courses, depending on how the scheme will be formulated. Under the credit-based scheme, students have to compulsorily participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, they said.

The concept of credit-based scheme has been borrowed from abroad, according to sources. All major universities in the world have introduced this scheme many years ago. Employers abroad look for credits earned by a student while offering jobs, they said.

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