Syllabus (2018-19)

Introduction To UGC-CBCS (Choice Based Credit System)

Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla has adopted the UGC framework of curriculum under CBCS from the academic session 2016-17 for the purpose of ensuring uniformity in the standards of higher education and to provide the students quality education on a par with the best in India.The relevant details of the new UGC-CBCS are as follows:

The UGC-CBCS provides an opportunity for the students to choose courses from the prescribed courses comprising core, elective/minor or skill-based courses. The courses can be evaluated following the grading system, which is considered to be better than the conventional marks system. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce uniform grading system in the entire higher education in India. This will benefit the students to move across institutions within India. The uniform grading system will also enable potential employers in assessing the performance of the candidates. In order to bring uniformity in evaluation system and computation of the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) based on student’s performance in examinations, the UGC has formulated the guidelines to be followed.

Outline of Choice Based Credit System

  • Discipline Specific Core (DSC) Course: A course, which should compulsorily be studied by acandidate as a core requirement is termed as a Core course.
  • Elective Course: Generally, a course which can be chosen from a pool of courses and which may be very specific or specialized or advanced or supportive to the discipline/ subject of study or which provides an extended scope or which enables an exposure to some other discipline/subject/domain or nurtures the candidate’s proficiency/skill is called an Elective Course.
    • Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) Course (2 each for regular courses): Elective courses may be offered by the main discipline/subject of study is referred to as Discipline Specific Elective. The University/Institute may also offer discipline related Elective courses of interdisciplinary nature (to be offered by main discipline/subject of study).
    • Dissertation/Project Work: An elective course of 6 credits, designed to acquire special/advanced knowledge, such as supplement study/support study to a project work, and a candidate studies such a course on his own with an advisory support by a teacher/faculty member is called dissertation/project work. A Project/Dissertation work may be given in lieu of a discipline specific elective paper.
    • Generic Elective Course (GEC): An elective course chosen generally from an unrelated discipline/subject, with an intention to seek exposure to other subjects/disciplines is called a Generic Elective Course.
  • Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC)/Competency Improvement Courses/Skill Development Courses/Foundation Course: The Ability Enhancement (AE) Courses may be of two kinds: AE Compulsory Course (AECC) and AE Elective Course (AEEC). “AECC” courses are the courses based upon the content that leads to Knowledge enhancement. They [(i) Environmental Science, (ii) English/MIL Communication] are mandatory for all disciplines. AEEC courses are value-based and/or skill-based and are aimed at providing hands-on-training, competencies, skills, etc.
    • Ability Enhancement Compulsory Course (AECC): Environmental Science, English Communication/MIL Communication.
    • Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC) (Minimum 4): These courses may be chosen from a pool of courses designed to provide value-based and/or skill-based instruction.