Life skills find place in UGC’s revised syllabus
The revised guidelines have been prepared by a 10-member expert committee, and will be offered as elective or optional courses across disciplines.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released revised guidelines for the introduction of life skills courses for undergraduate students, covering new modules such as social media, cyber security, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, managing personal finance, constitutional values, and patriotism.
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The commission shared the “Curriculum and Guidelines for Life Skills (Jeevan Kaushal) 2.0” guidelines with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on Friday as a part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
They will replace UGC’s curriculum for Life Skills that was developed in 2019 to support undergraduate learners.
The revised guidelines have been prepared by a 10-member expert committee, and will be offered as elective or optional courses across disciplines.
Like previous guidelines, the commission has divided life skills into four broad categories of courses: communication skills, professional skills, leadership and management skills, and universal human values.
Each course carries two credits, and the entire range of courses carries eight credits overall.
UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said the courses are aimed at enhancing different aspects of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, leadership behaviour, goal-setting, and stress or time management. “They are aimed at encouraging participants to adopt behaviours that empower both themselves and others, ultimately creating a positive and productive environment,” he said.
These four categories are further divided into 33 modules, which include some new ones: digital ethics and cyber security, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, managing personal finance, and constitutional values, justice, and human rights, among others.
The constitutional values, justice, and human rights module has been further divided into four parts including fundamental values, fundamental rights, fundamental duties, and ‘patriotism, pride and gratitude for the nation’.
“An exposure to these values, rights and duties will enable learners to develop the citizenship skills essential for successfully interacting in a pluralistic democratic society,” the guidelines stated.
Among the activities mentioned for teaching the sub-module patriotism, pride and gratitude for the Nation, the commission suggested, “Learners may research and present on local heroes who have fought in different wars in defence of Bharat. Lesser known facts about the warriors are to be highlighted.”
Noting the importance of money management skills, the guidelines stated: “Effective money management is an essential Life Skill. Young learners need to have a plan to meet their expenses and their targeted savings.”
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Meanwhile, HEIs will be allowed to pick the modules of their choice to offer them to students. The Commission has also suggested written examinations, assignments, peer evaluation, and self-evaluation, among the various possible assessment methods for these courses.
