Hyderabad: The latest circular released by AICTE on Wednesday reduces the workload of engineering students by cutting down required credits from 200 to 160. It has also released a revamped curriculum which includes topics like big data analytics and bullet trains
However, the syllabus also comes with subjects on theme of humanities like the Vedas, Puranas and others. Education experts in the city have questioned the move stating that many students in engineering colleges come from different communities and therefore making the study of one any religion mandatory would not be right.
The AICTE decision comes at a time when the prayer practice at Kendriya Vidyalayas has reached the Supreme Court.
Professor A. Venugopal Reddy, vice-chancellor of JNTU, said, “Under an induction programme students will do yoga in the morning and visit historical sites. The programme will also have components of creative arts. Sanskrit has been introduced in the curriculum because the board feels that a lot of ideas are written in that language long ago.”
Board members said that the steps were being taken for the holistic development of students. However, colleges wanted clarity on whether the new courses were elective or mandatory.
