Choice-based credit system in Nalanda Open University soon

PATNA: Nalanda Open University (NOU) would implement choice-based credit system (CBCS) from the next academic session, said vice-chancellor (VC) Rash Bihari Prasad Singh on Wednesday.
Addressing a meeting of faculty members and course coordinators, the NOU VC said necessary preparations for revising the course curricula as per the CBCS would soon be made. He also directed the coordinators of different subjects to get the entire syllabi revised.
“The ordinance and regulations of all the courses, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, will have to be drafted and placed before the statutory bodies of the university for approval.These will then be sent to the governor for his consent,” Singh said.
After getting the governor’s nod, the university will have to get the study materials of different courses prepared by subject experts before the commencement of the next academic session. Naturally, the framework of the courses will be changed from the present annual mode to semester mode. Thus, each postgraduate course will have four semesters and the three-year degree courses will be split into six semesters.
The VC pointed out that the University Grants Commission (UGC) had made the CBCS mandatory even for open universities and if they failed to do so by July 2020, their courses were likely to be derecognized by the Distance Education Bureau.
NOU is also gearing up for its accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) within a year. At present, it is running from a rented building in Patna and is plagued with acute shortage of space. The state government has allotted adequate land for construction of its own building in Nalanda.
Singh pointed out, “For getting a NAAC tag, NOU will have to appoint full-time teachers in each subject. The process of appointment of teachers will be initiated soon.”
NOU is also planning to introduce some new courses soon. It will also undertake some socially relevant research projects and enrol scholars for PhD courses as per the UGC norms.
Admissions till Aug 31: NOU is busy admitting students to its various courses.
According to registrar S P Sinha, the last date for admission to all the 120 courses is August 31.