Sunday, Jun 28, 2009
B.Sc. Computer Science, BCA degree holders to be taken directly

Tiruchi: Bharathidasan University has decided to henceforth admit candidates with B.Sc. Computer Science and BCA qualifications directly to the second year of MCA through lateral entry.

Repetition of contents that the candidates would have studied in their under-graduation can be avoided in the process, Vice-Chancellor M. Ponnavaikko said chairing the meeting of the Standing Committee on Academic Affairs (SCAA) here on Saturday. The decision followed suggestions made by members that the norms followed by the Centre of Distance Education for lateral entry to MCA could be adopted under the regular system as well.

Candidates with three-year diploma in Animation were also considered eligible for lateral entry to second year of B.Sc. Animation. Similarly, candidates with Diploma in Computer Applications can apply for lateral entry into the second year of BCA programme.

However, candidates admitted for these programmes through lateral entry will have to complete the language papers meant for the first year, the Vice-Chancellor said responding to resolutions placed before the house by the Head of the Department of Computer Science, Bharathidasan University, Gopinath Ganapathy, the Chairman of the Board of Studies for Computer Science. For BBA and B.Sc. Animation programmes where there is a provision for students to opt for languages other than Tamil, the university has made study of Basic Tamil compulsory in Part IV, Prof. Ponnavaikko said.

He advised the Boards of Studies to arrive at the contents equating one lecture hour/one and a half hours of tutoring / two hours of practicals as one credit. Wherever there are common contents in subjects like Computer Science, Information Technology and Computer Applications, the Boards of Studies concerned should together formulate common curricular content. Examinations for such papers that will be uniform across the programmes will be conducted on a common date.

For international acceptability and relevance, the Boards of Studies should familiarise themselves with the curriculum followed by international universities of high standing and universities across the country, the Vice-Chancellor insisted. In subjects like History and Philosophy, he advocated incorporation of topics pertaining to Tamil culture in the desired proportion.