Preparation for 4-year undergraduate degree programme begins; focus on imparting training

Thiruvananthapuram: The higher education department has commenced preparations for transition to the four-year undergraduate program (FYUP). Minister R Bindu has taken the initiative to prepare affiliating universities in Kerala for this transition. Academic conferences, attended by Bindu, will be organised to discuss the implementation process. The first meeting is scheduled for June 30 at Mahatma Gandhi University. At Kannur University, the meeting is on July 3, while at Calicut University and Kerala University, the conventions are scheduled for July 4 and July 6, respectively.

Participation of various university bodies, including the senate, syndicate, academic council and boards of studies is expected at these meetings. Principals of affiliated colleges will also attend. Sub-committees have been established to assess different aspects of the new curriculum and design them based on the specific circumstances of each university.

A total of seven sub-committees have been formed at MG University, and they are expected to submit reports by December 31. 

The key focus of these preparations is to train members of the board of studies followed by the teachers, which is considered a crucial undertaking. The Kerala State Higher Education Council has been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying the necessary master trainers and training them, by August 15, after which teacher training will commence.

The curriculum committee has been assigned the task of preparing the model syllabus for the foundation courses, which will be the first phase of FYUP. Universities will discuss a draft curriculum and provide feedback to the curriculum committee. After considering the input, the finalised syllabus will be released.

The approval of the academic councils and boards of studies of the respective universities will be sought for the final curriculum. As the four-year degree program is credit-based, evaluation methods for each course will be determined according to the nature of the subject matter.