BENGALURU: With the National Education Policy (NEP) laying emphasis on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), the University Grants Commission (UGC) has released guidelines for incorporating IKS into PG and UG courses, which may include a compulsory foundational course.
UGC released the ‘Draft Guidelines for Incorporating Indian Knowledge Systems in Higher Education Curricula’, wherein the commission invited comments and suggestions until April 30. UGC on Thursday also released ‘Guidelines for Training/Orientation of Faculty on Indian Knowledge Systems’.
As per the notice issued by UGC, the guidelines will focus on spreading information of IKS for both ‘research and societal applications’. “Integrating IKS within the existing educational framework will aid in preserving and disseminating Indian Knowledge Systems for further research and societal applications. The Universities / Institutions may prepare courses and programmes as per guidelines accordingly. This will help preserve India’s ancient heritage by including it in academic courses and curricula,” UGC stated.
Interestingly, a foundational course on IKS for undergraduate students may be implemented, as per the guidelines. “All the students should take a foundational course in Indian Knowledge Systems, which is designed to present an overall introduction to all streams of IKS relevant to the UG programme. The foundational IKS course should be broad-based and cover introductory material on all aspects,” the guidelines stated. Students should be encouraged to take enough number of IKS courses, so that the total IKS credits are equal to at least 5 per cent of the total mandated credits.
The guidelines themselves focus on everything related to IKS, from Sanskrit texts to a focus on Ayurveda, as well as information on ‘upapattis’, or proofs in Indian mathematics. The guidelines include recommendations on a foundational course on IKS, which include details on Indian civilisation, education, literature, economics, textiles, metallurgy, fine arts and architecture, among others. Meanwhile, focus has also been given to Indian astronomy and mathematics.