VIJAYAWADA: The Higher Education Department is all set to introduce four-year degree courses from the coming academic year. Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) Chairman K Hemachandra Reddy said, “We have sought an appointment with the UGC officials to discuss the new degree programme. Most probably we will have a meeting with them on January 30.”
Explaining the pattern to be followed in the new degree programme, once approved by the UGC, he said, “Whatever the students used to learn in a span of three years, will be systematically incorporated in two and half years of the course, making time for skill development.”
Students can choose from a variety of skill development programmes that will be offered in colleges in the second semester of the final year (third year of any degree course).
These skills include horticulture, agriculture, logistics, marketing, secretarial training, chartered accountancy, accountancy in general, medical equipment handling, radiology, automobile servicing and public relations.
A few specific skills such as electrician training, carpentry and stitching to name a few, will also be offered. The students can choose any of the skills irrespective of the educational field or course they are pursuing.
“An arts student can choose a medical field skill something like medical equipment handling. However, the internship should be compulsorily for the students in the skill in which they have taken the training.
The council will inform the available skill development training programmes in each college to enable the students to choose the right one of their interest. The students will be provided training in the chosen field in the last semester followed by apprenticeship," he said.
“We are working with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to explore the possibilities and capacities of companies in each district that can offer internship and training to students. We have a minimum of two years time to fix that even after the proposal is approved as the students will do it only in their fourth year,” he said.
The aim of introducing the fourth year in the degree course, which will be termed as ‘honours’, is to make students industry-ready. The National Education Policy (NEP) has also proposed a four-year degree programme. Andhra Pradesh will be the first State in the country to have such programme in place if NEP’s proposal is approved, he added.
