The Manonmaniam Sundaranar University has decided to discontinue the M.Phil. (Master of Philosophy) programmes being offered by the university and by the affiliated colleges.
A decision to this effect was taken in the MSU’s Standing Committee on Academic Affairs (SCAA) meeting held here on Thursday.
“Since M.Phil. degree is being treated only as an additional educational qualification that holds no value in foreign countries, it has been decided to discontinue this programme in the MSU and the affiliated colleges as well. Only Ph.D. will be offered as ‘research programme’ in the MSU and also in the colleges under its jurisdiction,” K. Baskar, Vice-Chancellor, MSU, announced in the SCAA meeting.
He said if the scholars, who had registered for Ph.D. programmes, had to discontinue the programme after two years of work, it might be considered as special cases for awarding M.Phil., provided the 2-year-long work could be accepted for awarding the degree as per established norms of University Grants Commission.
Dr. Baskar also made it clear that quality of the research programmes in the MSU should be elevated to international standards so as to make the students knowledgeable on a par with foreign students. Hence, admission to Ph.D. programmes would be made strictly on the UGC norms such as entrance exam etc.
When the Vice-Chancellor proposed to make computer applications and yoga compulsory subjects in the undergraduate programmes, some of the SCAA members opposed it, saying that the college administrations would not appoint qualified teachers for these subjects.
Allaying these fears, Dr. Baskar said the students should be prepared for facing ‘Digital India’ for which computer literacy was very much essential.
“Similarly, yoga plays a pivotal role in the mechanised lifestyle of every individual to make it stress-free. Hence, our students should know yoga,” the Vice-Chancellor said.
Evaluation
When a section of the SCAA members complained that evaluation of answer scripts was not being done by qualified teachers, Dr. Baskar said most of the qualified teachers asked to report for evaluation were not doing so and hence the university administration was being forced to seek the help of teachers working in self-financing colleges or self-financing courses.
“Since the teachers handling the particular subjects alone are being involved in evaluation of answer scripts, they can discharge this assignment also in the best possible manner,” he replied.
Registrar of MSU A. John De Britto was present.
