Mandatory Internships, Indian Knowledge System Now Under New BBA Curriculum Launched By AICTE – News18

From mandatory internships to studying Indian Culture, Vedic Mathematics, and Astronomy as part of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS), will now be crucial course components for those pursuing business administration programmes at the undergraduate level under the new curriculum launched by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

On Wednesday, the Council launched the Model Curriculum Framework for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) courses, including BBA (Honours) and BBA with research programmes. This curriculum has been developed in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020.

This is the first time that AICTE has developed a model curriculum for these professional courses. It mandates that at least 80% of the content be adopted by all affiliated institutes offering these courses. This move aims to regulate the quality of course content provided by private institutions and enhance students’ readiness for employment.

On March 27, News18 had reported internships are going to be an integral part of the curriculum with credits attached to it for BBA, Bachelors of Management Studies (BMS) and Bachelors of Computer Applications (BCA) to be launched in April.

“The curriculum for BMS and BCA programmes is in the works and will be launched soon,” said a senior AICTE official.

The Council will be offering two course durations — a three-year program spanning six semesters (BBA) and a four-year program spanning eight semesters (BBA Hons or BBA Hons with Research). The three-year program comprises 120 credits, while the four-year program comprises 160 credits.

What IKS entails

IKS, which is essentially the study of India’s ancient knowledge systems is an integral part of the NEP and is to be incorporated in higher education, as per guidelines from the union government.

A senior official told News18 that as part of the new curriculum, there will be a compulsory three weeks induction programme which will include Indian Knowledge System (IKS) subjects.

“IKS will be included in the first semester, which will include chapters on Indian culture and civilization, Indian vision for human society, Indian science, Indian Town planning and architecture, Indian mathematics and Astronomy, Indian Aesthetics and Indian health and wellness, among others,” the official revealed.

The model curriculum has been developed by an expert panel headed by Professor Anu Singh Lather, Vice-Chancellor of Ambedkar University. This panel includes members from both industry and academia, hailing from premier institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), among others.

According to Professor TG Sitharam, Chairperson of AICTE, the model curriculum integrates fundamental management principles with global best practices.

“Additionally, a mandatory three-week induction program has been incorporated to enhance students’ communication skills and acquaint them with current and future industry demands. AICTE aims to equip students to tackle global management challenges upon course completion,” he said.

Internships, industry workshops, IKS, studying human behaviour, organisation and Indian constitution will be salient components of study under the new framework, Sitharam added.

The Council brought BBA, BMS courses under its purview this year as per the approval process handbook released by it for next three years (2024-25 to 2026-27) last December.

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