Telangana to reduce academic load on degree students with new syllabus, fewer credits

If the TGCHE’s proposal fructifies, students who secure 120 credits will be awarded their degrees. Presently, for degrees to be granted, students need to earn 150 credits in the three years of the course work.

Hyderabad: The academic load on Telangana degree students is expected to come down as new syllabus for undergraduate programmes will be rolled out from the forthcoming academic year i.e., 2025-26.

The Telangana Council of Higher Education is working on introducing a new syllabus for degree courses with fewer credits, which means less syllabus and academic burden on students. If the proposal fructifies, students who secure 120 credits will be awarded their degrees. Presently, for degrees to be granted, students need to earn 150 credits in the three years of the course work.

As part of the syllabus revision, major reshuffling is being done on how credits are distributed among different subjects. The number of credits allotted for the languages, first language English and second language (Telugu/Hindi), are expected to come down from 20 to 12. Similarly, the credits for electives are likely to be reduced from 30 to 22.

The TGCHE is making these changes as per the recommendations of the University Grants Commission, which set uniform credits of 120 for degree programmes offered by higher educational institutions across the country.

The Council, which has already begun the syllabus revision exercise, is holding consultations with universities officials and boards of studies on proposed changes in the credits system. A meeting with universities vice chancellors will be conducted shortly during which a final decision will be arrived at.

Meanwhile, the proposal to reduce credits in English language did not go down well with Osmania University’s English department.

During an emergency annual departmental meeting with all the campus, constituent, government, private and autonomous colleges on Monday, English professors and lecturers strongly pitched for retaining the existing 20 credits for English language in degree programmes.

According to OU’s Department of English Head Prof. B Vijaya, the faculty members emphasized that maintaining the current credit structure is crucial for the academic and professional development of students, especially in enhancing their language proficiency and employability skills.