UGC wants to hasten curriculum revision

 The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities to take “immediate action” to review and revise their curricula.

This comes days after a group of secretaries recommended, during their meeting with the prime minister, that the curricula of all academic departments in universities across the country should be reviewed and revised “at least once in every three years”.

“You are requested to accord top priority to the matter and take immediate action so that the curricula of various programs offered at your university are revised and adopted for quick implementation by your university and the colleges affiliated to it,” UGC secretary Jaspal S Sandhu said in a letter to vice chancellors of all universities.

The 11-member group of secretaries, constituted by the prime minister in October 2016 to look into the problems in the education sector and to come up with ideas to further the government’s reform agenda, submitted their report and recommendations to Modi on January 14. The review and revision of the academic curricula should focus on making students “employable,” Sandhu added.

“In a world changing at breakneck speed, any conceptual innovations and technological breakthroughs are subject to further alterations and upgrade within a short span after their launch. In such a vibrant climate, the responsibility to address the needs created by self-activating change lies at the door of teachers and community leaders,” he added.