THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the state’s higher education sector is poised to fully implement the four-year undergraduate programmes starting this year, major universities have cleared the decks for the rollout of a variety of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary courses. University of Kerala (KU) pioneered the four-year UG programme in the state last year by offering such a course in Politics and International Relations. This year, the varsity is set to roll out 15 more ‘Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) - Honours with Research’ courses in science, arts, commerce and business administration. Students can choose their ‘major’ subject from any of the 16 programmes at the end of the first year of the four-year course. Along with it, they can choose their ‘minor’ subject from as many as 51 innovative minor courses offered by the 44 teaching and research departments of the university.
The choice of minor subjects includes data science, data analytics, applied linguistics, cyber security, supply chain, bio-diversity, nanoscience, biotechnology, biochemistry, climate change, functional materials, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Unlike the conventional three-year degree course, the four-year programme provides students the option to pursue more than one discipline. If a student secures the required credit in a ‘minor’ subject, he or she can continue pursuing the subject at the post-graduate and research levels. According to KU Vice-Chancellor Mohanan Kunnummal, a variety of online courses, skill development programmes, internships and research projects also form an integral part of the four-year UG programme offered by the varsity.
“The Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) - Honours with Research has been conceived to instil in students a multidisciplinary approach, social commitment and research aptitude. The idea is to connect them to the job sector and also encourage research in their respective domains,” he said.
Programme highlights
According to prof Sam Solomon, director of the Centre for Undergraduate Studies, KU, students who obtain the required credits at the end of the third year can exercise the exit option with the normal BA/ BSc / BBA/ Bcom degree.
“Students who secure a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 7.5 or above can advance to the fourth year of the programme. These students will be awarded the ‘Honours with Research’ degree on completion of the four-year course,” he said.
This year, the varsity plans to admit students on the basis of marks scored in the Plus Two examination. The admission notification will be issued soon after the publication of the Plus Two results. From next year onwards, an entrance exam is being planned taking into account the limited seats available for the newly launched courses.
KERALA UNIVERSITY
4-YEAR UG PROGRAMMES: 16
BSc Hons With Research: 7
Biology, Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Mathematics, Geology, Psychology
BA Honours With Research: 7
Hindi, Malayalam & Kerala Studies, English, Sanskrit, Politics & International Relations, Economics, History
BCom Hons With Research: 1
BBA Hons With Research: 1