SPU rolls out integrated programmes

Vadodara/Anand: For the first time in the state, integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes will be offered to students. Going ahead with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that was launched by Narendra Modi government last year, Vallabh Vidyanagar-based Sardar Patel University (SPU) is bringing changes in the traditional streams of science and commerce from this academic year.
The university will be offering integrated bachelors and masters programme (IBMP) programmes to A and B group students of science stream and commerce students who have cleared their class 12.
“We are introducing IBMP from this academic year with a multi-disciplinary approach as envisaged in the new NEP. Ours is the first university in Gujarat to do so with dual degree programmes in both science and commerce streams. We have also linked it with an academic bank of credit” said SPU vice-chancellor professor Shirish Kulkarni.
For students who have passed in A group, IBMP will be offered in six streams — applied chemistry, applied mathematics, applied statistics, applied material science, applied physics and applied electronics.
Similarly, for B group students, IBMP will be offered in biomedical sciences and dietetics. Commerce students will stand a chance to pursue IBMP in commerce. The five-year integrated programmes have been launched with 20 seats each in science streams and 70 seats in commerce stream where admissions will be merit-based.
Students will have a choice to exit from the programmes after completion of three years. If they exit the programmes at the end of three years they will earn a bachelor’s degree but those who continue will be automatically eligible for master’s degree.
“The objective of IBMP is to increase employability of students considering the global ecosystem. Also, as students will be enrolled for a duration of five years, there will be more focus on research,” said Kulkarni. IBMPs will be run on a self-financed model with Rs 12,000 as fees for one semester. Students enrolled in the courses will study general subjects in the first year and later move on to core subjects of their choice.