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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/world/asia/22iht-educBriefs22.html?_r=1&src=twrhp

By THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Published: November 21, 2010

India’s federally financed universities have agreed to adopt an American-style system of academic credits to give students more flexibility. The move marks a significant departure from a system that began during British colonial rule whereby students must earn their degree from a single institution over a fixed number of years.

Heads of these 22 universities — from a total of 500 in India — accepted this change in principle at a meeting in New Delhi last month. But they said implementation will take considerable effort. One of the tasks is “working out academic equivalencies across disciplines,” said Vibha Puri Das, secretary of higher education at the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The proposed credit system will first be introduced at government-financed universities. However, those behind the drive want to extend it to other federally funded organizations too, like the Indian Institute of Technology, or I.I.T., which has campuses across the country

N.R. Madhava Menon, a senior adviser to the ministry, said employers today want engineers who can think across disciplines: “The I.I.T.’s are concentrated on engineering. Why not management, too? Why not law?” — VIR SINGH

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