Saurashtra University to adopt UGC’s model syllabus

The Saurashtra University(SU) is all set to implement the University Grant Commission’s (UGC) model curriculum for all its undergraduate and post-graduate courses in 14 faculties from academic year beginning June 2016.

This is the first university in the state to adopt the UGC’s model curriculum.The model syllabus had been approved by the university’s board of studies.

'We are going to adopt the new syllabus from June 2016 when the new academic year begins”, said SU vice-chancellor Pratapsinh Chauhan.

While 75 percent of the new syllabus has contents provided by UGC, the rest 25 per cent has been-been modified to meet the local needs as per the directions of the UGC”, Chauhan said.

“The model syllabus provided by UGC was certainly of high level. “We have adopted it to improve the standard of higher education in our university”, Chauhan explained, when questioned why did he go for it when other universities in the state were following their old syllabuses. SU went ahead with adopting the model syllabus after Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat (KCG) called up a meeting of VCs of all the state-run universities a year ago and suggested them to go for the model syllabus.

“Adopting model syllabus is not mandatory but it is good for the students if the universities choose it”, said Chauhan. KCG advisor and former VC of Gujarat University A U Patel said: “We had advised VCs of all universities in the state to go for UGC’s model syllabus. Barring SU, others are yet to respond”. He said the adoption of the model syllabus would not only raise the standard of education but would also help portability of students shifting from one university to another in the case of transfer of their parents or due to some other urgency.

Shifting of students under the existing system in which each university has a totally different syllabus was not possible. “Under the present system, it is not possible to carry forward the credits from one university to another because they are studying different materials”, said Patel. “KCG can only give suggestions and it was up to individual universities to implement them or not”, Patel pointed out.