Taking note of the demand for teachers who know foreign languages, Bangalore University is mulling over the idea of introducing foreign language as a subject.
The issue was discussed on Friday at the Academic Council meeting where some senior members expressed the need for introducing a foreign language. The house unanimously agreed, and decided to introduce either German or French.
The issue was raised by Jeevan Kumar who said that various Kendriya Vidyalayas and private schools required teachers who could teach foreign languages. Speaking to presspersons, Vice-Chancellor Dr. B. Thimme Gowda said, "The house has mooted the idea of introducing a foreign language in B.Ed courses from the coming academic year. We will choose the language based on the popularity and demand.” The course, he said, would help students in understanding the methodology of teaching foreign languages.
EncroachmentsBU is also trying to obtain documents to remove encroachments in the university. As a first step, it is in the process of obtaining documents for the land adjacent to Central College where a private petrol pump has been operating since many years.
The V-C said, "Officials and staff say that the land belongs to us. But, we have no document of that land, as it was encroached upon when it was with Mysore University. We are trying to get the document from Mysore University."
Meanwhile, the university is also searching for documents of land, which is allegedly occupied by the public. "Some cases are pending in court. Apart from these, we need to remove the encroachment. As per our information, the land where another petrol pump is operating near the Jnana Bharathi campus, belongs to a politician and we are looking at those documents," the V-C said.
"We are planning to construct a compound wall near Nagadevanahalli to prevent members of the public from entering the campus. There is pressure on us not to construct it, but we will not yield," said Mr Gowda.
He said that committees constituted by the State Higher Education Council are in the process of mulling over a uniform evaluation system and introduction of uniform internal assessment system at all universities.
