Bhubaneswar: Students in higher education institutions (HEIs) across Odisha will get a wide choice of courses from the upcoming academic session, with the directorate of higher education asking all govt and non-govt institutes to offer at least two courses under the multidisciplinary course (MDC), apart from the skill enhancement course (SEC) and value-added course (VAC) components of National Education Policy-2020.The move is aimed at giving students greater flexibility to explore subjects beyond their major and acquire additional skills and knowledge, says director of higher education Kaliprasanna Mohapatra.He has directed principals to ensure that heads of departments offer at least two courses from the approved model syllabi under MDC, SEC and VAC. The courses will be selected based on the academic expertise and faculty available in each department. Model syllabi for a number of MDC, SEC and VAC courses have already been prepared.The directive comes after the implementation of the NEP-2020 curriculum and credit framework in higher education institutions in the state.The multidisciplinary component will allow students to explore subjects outside their major discipline. For instance, a home science student will have to opt for courses offered by other departments.The directive also provides flexibility to institutions where adequate MDCs are not available in a particular subject. In such cases, departments can offer MDCs developed for other subjects. For example, Zoology Board of Studies has developed seven MDCs. Zoology department will have to offer at least two of these, allowing students to choose from the courses included in the institutional course basket. Other departments will have to follow a similar model.Officials say the selected courses will be included in the institutional course basket, from which students can make their choices during registration. This will allow students to choose courses according to their interests and academic requirements, subject to the options offered by their institutions.Meanwhile, the SEC component will provide students with opportunities to acquire additional skills, while VACs are courses aimed at broadening students’ learning beyond their core discipline, officials say.Institutions have been asked to make the required faculty allocations, prepare class schedules and put in place other academic arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of the courses, to be approved by the competent academic authorities of the respective institutes.The directorate has directed all the HEIs to ensure strict compliance with the instructions.
