Students' Corner

Dear Students,

LAST WEEK WE ASKED:  Do you think introducing four year under graduate courses by colleges will help students?

BEST RESPONSE

Except for engineering most under graduate courses are of 3 years. The need of hour is practical exposure to the students. In the four year under-graduate course, a compulsory 6-12 months industry interface program must be included. After the students complete their internships, an analysis should be done in the last year of the program and all the necessary qualities should be inculcated in them so as to make them more sophisticated in their work.  Also, it should be seen that after the four year program, student do not require any special PG coursers to satisfy their needs.
- Bhushan Orpe, Fr. C. Rodrigues Institute of Management Studies, Vashi.

OTHER RESPONSES:

Students don’t learn in an institute by quantity of time but by the quality of time. So by making under graduate course to four year will work only when it ensures student spend quality time in those years, thus developing soft and hard skills that is globally competitive. The school should lay emphasis on more rigorous curriculum, more quality teacher, good infrastructure, collaboration with foreign university. Thus school should ensure that students four year should be utilized in shaping his personality and carrier otherwise it's just wastage of time, money and energy.
- Nilaya Mitash Shanker, Indian Institute Of Technology, Roorkee.

A four years UG course will allow the students to study a bit of pure sciences, social sciences, languages, among others, in the first year and provide them exposure to a wide range of academic disciplines. In the extra year, students can be gainfully engaged in courses which will boost their employability. Moreover, if planned properly, the students wishing to go abroad for post-graduation need not spend a year on a bridge course,The four-year course will not have the rigidity of a three-year degree programme, which is definitely an advantage.
- Rohit Dwivedi, Gautam Buddha University , Greater Noida

This definitely is a breather for students and welcome change for the Indian Education system as a whole .Importance would be given to all-round development of the student as credit transfers will ensure students excel at co-curricular activities, research and innovation. How efficiently DU implements it will determine its adoption in other universities as well. The curriculum design and instructor training needs to be realigned according to the new system. The short time available for implementation is also a challenge. However this change definitely underlines the long forgotten fact that education should be for life and not for jobs.
- Glorin Sebastian, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

Now-a-days companies demand for multiple skills. The unemployment is also there in engineering field as well as in MBA. To get job is depend on communication skills,confidence and many more.The syllabus that students study in classrooms and the situation that they will face in corporate world will totally different.The only thing that will help the students is soft skills.The college degrees are just like hall ticket to enter into the companies.
- Reetu Davda, Atmiya Institute of Science & Technology, Rajkot.

Introducing four year under graduate courses by colleges will definitely help students by improving quality and content. In all the engineering colleges there are four year UG courses. This will help students discover their aptitude before going in for specialisation. It will provide exposure to a wide range of academic disciplines. It will also integrate education and skills.
- Sumit Sourav, Regional College of Management , Bhubaneswar.

There should be 4 year under graduate programme for all the streams so that if they have to study abroad then 16 years of study is required which is not possible in 3 year graduate programme. The fourth year should specifically be only for the improvement of communication skills of the students. They should be given projects in practical scenario which can help them boost their career and their will not be any bias between the engineering student and normal bachelors degree student.
- Palvinder Kaur Dhaliwal, Fr. C .Rodrigues Institute of Management Studies

The viability of a four year under graduate course will depend on the course structure. A four year course is welcome if it is structured such that it provides enough exposure both on the theoretical and practical front to make one ready for the industry. This is very critical given the Indian scenario where maximum students represent middle class and seek for ready employment after an investment of four years.  On the other side of the coin it will come as a pain for the students seeking academical excellence as they will still have to go to the masters’ route.
- Saurabh Majumdar, ICAI, Delhi

The change in the course structure should be seen as a means rather than an end to the problems of our education system. There is a need of flexibility in our current undergraduate education system due to the demands of the present times which requires a multi faceted knowledge base. However the overall success of the system will depend on the way it is implemented otherwise it can land up like the regular engineering courses which sound the best on paper yet produce only meagre employable graduates.
- Prateek Parimal, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA).

Education in knowledge always pays the best dividend, as under graduate studies always works as a strong pillar for post graduate studies. An increase in time span will remove the bottle neck and help the students to get detailed knowledge on the subject which might be not possible for the 3 year undergraduate course. The new concept will also help the colleges to introduce new subjects in the curriculum and help the students to get the new idea about the concerned subject. The students should also look these idea as a positive move and not a burden to their UG level.
- Harsh Mehta, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

One must think that does time period really affect the quality of education? It does not matter three years or four years the quality of education and the subjects which are supplied must be relevant and field oriented. It is upto the colleges and universities that if they think 3 years are not enough time then they must go for four years but with consideration that it must add value to the education program and to the students.
- Jimit Parikh, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

Introduction of four year graduate program is a good initiative by many prestigious institutes,but it depends on various parameters like course content,hands on training, etc. Further, new program structure may introduce new subjects,more electives which are apt for changing economic environment. Making theory part less hectic and offering more time and opportunities to students to work on various projects,innovation and research,should be the motive. Change in curriculum structure may help students to study specialized subjects from first year itself. Change is necessary to take Indian education system to world standards.
- Dinu J Chacko, XIME, Bangalore.

Four year undergraduate course isn't a new trend!, atleast for those who go for undergraduate courses in disciplines like medical and engineering, but that hasn't changed the scenario nor the new system of introducing four year undergraduate courses will. As it is brought on the notion that if the students are taught general topics in the first year than they will be able to discover their aptitude before going into specialization, but without dynamic updating of syllabus this would only give win-win feeling in the figures but would neither shape their skills nor will increase their employability.
- Girish Changulani, Jhunjhunwala Business School, Faizabad.

The introduction of four year under-graduate courses will offer distinctive career options to the students. The four-year courses will allow more time to students to work on research and innovation. The
provisions of credits and exit options in the second and third years, brings in flexibility to this course structure and offers freedom to students, as compared to the present rigid course structure in colleges. However, this structural change will require a radical change in the present course content, which will make its implementation difficult.
- Akshay Chadha, NSIT, Delhi.

Seeing the current scenario where specialisation is only acknowledged,I assume that studying for 4years and then again choosing your field i.e your specialisation is not fruitful.Instead students should be first selected for a particular job and then should be groomed accordingly instead of being jack of all and master of none which has become today's trend.
- Trupti Bharat Kothari, FCRIMS

Your responses should reach us at edu@business-standard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure that your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute's name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the 'Best Response' will be awarded Rs 500.
 
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:  Do you think conventional engineering courses are back in demand despite new varied courses being introduced by colleges?