Fostering a Liberal Credit System

Higher Education has undergone quite a lot of transformation over the years. After the Kothari Commission report in 1966, discussions on college autonomy started and a few colleges became autonomous since 1978 and a few of them have completed 25 years of such a freedom. Academic freedom, under autonomy, helped many colleges innovate new curricula, design relevant courses, frame new syllabi and introduce new evaluation methods. But the required flexibility for the students to have a greater choice of courses appropriate to their interests, needs and long-term goals is not available even in autonomous colleges; rather a rigid and compartmentalised system is perpetuated. This paper makes an attempt to identify the unique features of choice-based credit system and the effect of helping students to decide. Choice based credit system (CBCS), or a cafeteria like system is the solution for this type of transformation from the traditional teacher oriented education to a student-centred education. Taking responsibility for their own education in this way, students can benefit the most from all the available resources. Academic commissions and committees such as UGC, TANSCHE and NAAC recommend CBCS for higher education. Though a few institutions claim to have introduced this system, in reality not much of freedom is given to the students. Everyone agrees that intellectual depth and breadth characterise higher education. But, in allowing the students to choose their favourite courses, certain questions arise. The rules regarding the number of students in each class and the number of hours per week for the students or for the teachers have not changed from the old affiliated system. To summarise, a credit system can function only when we start to see our students as mature individuals, capable of making their own decisions