Udaipur varsity among 6 selected for curriculum reforms in country

Mohanlal Sukhadia University (MSU) of Udaipur is among the six universities chosen across the country by the union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) to introduce curriculum reforms, said JP Sharma, vice chancellor, MSU.

Under the initiative, the curriculum reforms will be introduced in one department of the selected university. At MSU, the reforms will be carried out in the department of biotechnology.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the MHRD organised in New Delhi last month. MSU officials also attended the meeting. “Biotechnology is an upcoming and a relevant branch of science in view of sustainable development, and curriculum changes in this branch will help in preparing global students,” said Prof Kanika Sharma, course director, department of biotechnology, MSU.

Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), United States, have been entrusted with the job of overseeing the MHRD’s curriculum reforms in the six universities.

Apart from MSU , five other universities selected are one each from the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Prof Kanika said that the reforms will involve sharing of technical knowhow, research collaborations and exchange tours of students and faculty between MSU and UPenn.

MSU might even receive funds from its foreign counterpart at a later stage, said the MSU vice chancellor. “We were chosen for this because we completed in time all the other projects given under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) such as construction of smart classrooms, moot courts, etc,” said Sharma.