State govt mulls common UG syllabus in autonomous colleges

Higher Education Additional Secretary Durgaprasad Behera said currently there is no uniformity in syllabus and examination system. "We have called a meeting of principals of autonomous colleges on September 17 to discuss about a common syllabus pattern," Behera added.

As autonomous colleges make their own syllabus and examinations are held on different dates, there is hardly any common ground, he added.

The Higher Education department also wants autonomous colleges to follow a common academic calendar so that examinations will be held on the same date.

Welcoming the proposal, BD College, Jeypore, principal Prof C. Savitri said, "A common academic calendar in every autonomous college will help smooth conduct of examinations including internal and semester."

In a related development, the government has decided to categorise undergraduate courses into five streams of arts, physical science, biological science, commerce and self-financing streams in degree colleges from next year, compared to the three broader streams of arts, science and commerce at present, a government circular issued on January 3 to the colleges said.

Honours subjects of information technology, biotechnology, computer science, microbiology, computer science, electronics and telecommunication will come under the self-financing stream.