Choice Based Credit System (CBCS)
Choice Based Credit System (CBCS)
National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP) envisions a massive transformation in education through– “an education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high quality education to all, thereby making India a global knowledge superpower.” The NEP 2020 is founded on the five guiding pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. It will prepare our youth to meet the diverse national and global challenges of the present and the future.
Education plays an important role in nation-building. In our country, numerous educational institutions are engaged in imparting education. Most have recently switched to the semester system to align with international education standards. However, our education system is producing young people who often lack knowledge, confidence, values, and skills. This issue may stem from the traditional education system’s failure to link education with employment and skill development. The current situation calls for a transformation of the education system, focusing on innovations and developing a ‘learner-centric approach’ alongside a globally recognized assessment system.
Most Indian higher education institutions use a grading system based on marks or percentages, which limits students’ flexibility in choosing subjects and their mobility between institutions. The education system needs to become more flexible, allowing students to select interdisciplinary, intra-disciplinary, and skill-based courses according to their interests and goals. This can be achieved by introducing the internationally recognized Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS). The CBCS provides opportunities not only for learning core subjects but also for exploring additional learning avenues outside the core subjects, contributing to the holistic development of individuals. The CBCS will undoubtedly help us benchmark our degree programs against the best international academic practices.
Outline of Choice Based Credit System (CBCS)
- Core Courses:s: 4 Discipline Specific Core Courses (DSC) (2 per subject) and 2 Courses of English and Hindi/Sanskrit in B.A./B. Com). The papers under this category will be taught uniformly across all universities with 30% deviation proposed in the draft. Fixing core papers ensures that all the institutions follow a minimum common curriculum so each institution/university adheres to common minimum standard. Also, the course designed for papers under this category aims to cover the basics that a student is expected to imbibe in that discipline. A course, which should compulsorily be studied by a candidate as a core requirement is termed as a Core course.
- Elective Courses: Generally, a course which can be chosen from a pool of courses and which may be specific or specialized or advanced or supportive to the discipline/ subject of study or which provides an extended scope or which enables an exposure to some other discipline/subject/domain or nurtures the candidate’s proficiency/skill is called an Elective Course.
- 2.1 Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) Courses (2 each for regular courses): Elective courses offered under the main discipline/subject of study are called Discipline Specific Elective. The list provided under this category are suggestive and each University has complete freedom to suggest their own papers under this category based on their expertise, specialization, requirements, scope and need. The University/Institute may also offer discipline related Elective courses of interdisciplinary nature
(to be offered by main discipline/subject of study). - Generic Elective (GE) Courses (2 each for B.A. /B.Com. regular courses): An elective course chosen from an unrelated discipline/subject, with an intention to seek exposure beyond discipline/s of choice is called a Generic Elective. The purpose of this category of papers is to offer the students the option to explore disciplines of interest beyond the choices they make in Core and Discipline Specific Elective paper. The list given under this category are suggestive and each University has complete freedom to suggest their own papers under this category based on their expertise, specialization, requirements, scope and need.
Note: A core course offered in a discipline/subject may be treated as an elective by other discipline/subject and vice versa and such electives may also be called Generic Elective. - Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC): The Ability Enhancement (AE) Courses may be of two kinds: Ability Enhancement Compulsory Courses (AECC) and Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC). “AECC” courses are the courses based on the content that leads to Knowledge enhancement; (i) Environmental Science, and (ii)
English/Hindi/MIL Communication. These are mandatory for all disciplines. SEC courses are value–based and/or skill–based and are aimed at providing hands–on–training, competencies, skills, etc. - 3.1 Ability Enhancement Compulsory Courses (AECC): Environmental Science, English Communication/Hindi Communication/MIL Communication.
- 3.2 Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC) (4 for regular courses): These courses may be chosen from a pool of courses designed to provide value–based and/or skill–based knowledge and should contain both theory and lab/hands–on/training/field work. The main purpose of these courses provides students life–skills in hands–on mode to increase their employability. The list provided under this category are suggestive and each University has complete freedom to suggest their own papers under this category based on their expertise, specialization, requirements, scope and need.
- 3.3 Practical/Tutorials (One each with every core and discipline/generic specific elective paper): The list of practical provided is suggestive and each university has the freedom to add/subtract/edit practical from the list depending on their faculty and infrastructure available. Addition will however be of similar nature.
Courses offered by the College (Under CBCS)
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) (Pass Course) (60 Seats per Subject)
- Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) (Pass Course) (60 Seats per Subject)
Course Allocation Scheme for B.A & B.COM (under CBCS)
Year
Core
Courses
(DSC) (6 Credits each)
Discipline
Specific
Elective
(DSE) (6 Credits each)
Ability
Enhancement
Compulsory
Courses (AECC) (4 Credits each)
Generic
Elective (GE) (6 Credits each)
Total
Credits
1st year
ENG–1
HINDI–1
DSC–1A
DSC–1B
DSC–2A
DSC–2B
36 Credits
—
—
—
44
Credits
2nd year
ENG–2
HINDI–2
DSC–1C
DSC–1D
DSC–2C
DSC–2D
36 Credits
—
SEC–1
SEC–2
8 Credits
—
44
Credits
3rd year
—
DSE–1A
DSE–1B
DSE–2A
DSE–2B
24 Credits
SEC–3
SEC–4
8 Credits
GE–1
GE–2
12 Credits
44
Credits