P. Sripati Tantri, scholar and retired principal, said on Monday that a drastic overhaul of the Social Science courses was needed to attract students.
He was delivering the keynote address at the inauguration of two-day national seminar on “Restructuring Social Science courses in the present context” organised by Poornaprajna Evening College, here.
Dr. Tantri said that due to declining interest among students for Arts courses, some colleges had already closed down departments related to Humanities. This trend needed to be reversed. “This can be done only if students felt that courses in the Arts stream could get them employment,” he said.
In universities in the United States, besides subjects of Humanities, a student could choose a subject or two of other streams such as Natural Sciences and Management Sciences. This was not possible in India as the Science, Arts and Commerce streams are like “water-tight compartments” without any flexibility.
A drastic overhauling of the syllabi or curriculum in the Humanities stream was essential. But many a times, lecturers and professors, acted as a hurdle to any change in the curriculum.
Curriculum and syllabi should change to reflect the present realities and should incorporate the latest research in the subjects. It is essential for the lecturers and professors also to constantly update their knowledge and be up to date.
The IITs and the IIMs though focusing on professional courses offered some subjects in Humanities stream to their students. Some of the professors in the Departments of Humanities in IITs and IIMs had also made their mark by doing quality research work.
The State government should stop starting universities on each and every subject. A university by its very nature should be multi-disciplinary, Prof. Tantri said.
Madhavi Bhandary, Principal of the college, welcomed the gathering. Durgalaxmi, Organising Secretary of the seminar, delivered the introductory remarks.
Radhakrishna Acharya, former Principal of the college, Sripati Acharya, Vice Chairman of College Managing Committee, were present.
