Revamped polytechnic curriculum, regulation for TN students out

CHENNAI: Polytechnic students in the State are all set to have a new and revamped curriculum from this academic year as the Tamil Nadu government has released the draft syllabus and its regulations.

The new curriculum, which was redesigned by the guidance bureau, will focus on improving the employability and entrepreneurship outcomes from the campuses through skill-centric and industry allied curriculum and syllabus.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next that the proposed curriculum and regulations have integrated learning experience and many academic and curriculum flexibilities. "It also incorporates the salient features of Outcome Based Education (OBE). OBE aims to create a clear expectation of results that students must achieve,” he added.

He said the new curriculum consists of various levels of courses, structured as "Foundation, Concentration and the Specialization" for a greater understanding of the core concepts of the fundamentals in the initial year of learning and thereby moving towards the specialization areas by choice.

Stating that every diploma programme shall have a curriculum with syllabi comprising theory, practicum and practical courses with well-defined Program Outcomes (PO), the official said every course shall have a distinct curriculum with syllabi consisting of courses broadly categorized under Basic Sciences, Basic Engineering, Professional Core, Professional Electives, Open Electives, and Certification Courses.

Pointing out that the credit system will be followed for the courses as it was done in the engineering programme, he said the grading system will also be followed based on the performance of the students in the semester exams.

"Major changes were made in the Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics, Electronics and Communication and Computer Science syllabus according to the latest industrial needs,” he said adding "especially these courses will have academic and curriculum flexibility, which includes break-of-study, course add, course withdrawal, credit transfer and others".

With regard to the duration of the courses, the official said a student is ordinarily expected to complete the diploma programme in 6 semesters (for SSLC students) and four semesters (for lateral entry students). The Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE), which released the regulation and new curriculum, also sought feedback from the stakeholders for any amendments if the suggestions were genuine