IIT Kanpur revamps curriculum; Introduces honours, inter-departmental degree programmes

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur announced a revamp of its curriculum while introducing new honors and inter-departmental degree programmes along with other options. This has laid down a new template for undergraduate education with path-breaking features, as per IIT Kanpur.

“The transformative steps were part of the Undergraduate Academic Review Committee Report 2020-21 (UGARC 2020-21) that was approved by the IIT Senate in its meeting held during October 6-7, 2021,” a statement from IIT Kanpur said.

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With the revamp of the curriculum, it is providing new degree options such as honours degree and inter-departmental degree programmes, the IIT Kanpur statement said.

The curriculum will also extend the scope of education to include Social-Sciences, Communication, Humanities, Economics, Management, and Environment (SCHEME).

While the core courses will be restructured to give greater flexibility to the core curriculum, the programme will enable counting of designated online courses done by students on MOOC platforms to be counted for credits.

Further, the new template will also include

• New opportunities for student exchange across institutions for the Masters part of the Bachelors-Masters dual degree programme
• Direct admission for talented students via globally acclaimed Olympiads
• Academic credits for approved entrepreneurial activities and learning done in the industry set up
• Exit option degree for those students who want to leave the program in the middle

Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said: “...The revamping of the existing curriculum, introduction of courses relevant to today’s changing world and the revised grading system is in continuation of our steps in this direction and in line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (2020) of the Government."

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"A key aspect of the revamp is much needed flexibility to the system enabling it to adapt to the changing academic landscape across the world. We are hopeful that these features will enable IIT Kanpur to be the preferred institute for its programs both nationally and internationally," Karandikar said.