Agriculture Courses: ICAR makes internships a must, adds skills training in revamped curriculum

NEW DELHI: Skill-based learning and employability have taken a centre stage in the overhaul of agricultural education by a curriculum reform committee of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

In its Sixth Deans’ Committee Report released last month, ICAR has introduced skill enhancement courses and made internships compulsory as part of UG-certificate, UG-diploma and degree requirements.

By integrating choice-based skill enhancement courses in the UG programmes and internships in agriculture education, ICAR is aiming at “improving employability” and practical knowledge along with inculcating skills for entrepreneurship.

“The restructured undergraduate curricula are designed to enable students to take up entrepreneurship as a career path through several modes of skill development programmes, such as in-plant training, internship, projects and rural agricultural work experience,” reads the preface of the report.

Also read ICAR paves way for multiple exits, exam reforms in agriculture courses

Through these curriculum reforms, ICAR aims to enable the graduates to “become a job provider rather than a job seeker through establishment of enterprises in concerned fields”.

According to ICAR, the restructured undergraduate curricula are “designed to enable the students to take up entrepreneurship as a career path”.

Agriculture Syllabus: Skill enhancement

Students can choose the areas of skill enhancement from a range of modules offered by their parent institutions. Agriculture colleges or universities will develop capabilities for offering skill enhancement courses of 12 credits.

Skill enhancement courses are included in the first and second years as part of the course programmes.

The first year of all 13 UG programmes will include foundation courses, introductory courses and skills enhancement courses, or training in the chosen area, along with ability enhancement courses. These will equip students for employment or entrepreneurship.

In the second year, students will be allowed to choose additional skill enhancement courses in their chosen areas.

“It is aimed that the students will acquire the higher level knowledge in respective disciplines and adequate skills in some selected areas, to enable their employment at middle level or supervisory level or for entrepreneurship,” the report stated.

Students will also undergo 10 weeks of internship for exit programmes after the first or second year. In the fourth year, they will have the option to choose elective courses and advanced skill enhancement courses through projects and internships.

“Students will acquire advanced knowledge and skill in different areas so as to meet the higher order requirements of the society and industry as well as other prospective employers,” the report said.

The committee has suggested a list of skill enhancement courses for each discipline but agricultural universities can offer others as well.

“The evaluation of the skill enhancement programmes will be as per the evaluation criteria of courses with only practical,” the report said.

Also read ICAR introduces two new UG courses in natural farming and agriculture business management

Agriculture Jobs: Internship

ICAR has made the provision for exiting BSc Agriculture and similar courses after the first year for award of UG-Certificate and after the second year for award of UG-Diploma but only after the completion of 10-week internships at each level.

“The goal of internship at exit for UG-Certificate and UG-Diploma is to further strengthen skills in the chosen area or subject,” said the report.

ICAR has advised the universities to preferably arrange the internship beyond the parent institution, at an assigned organisation, industry, research institution, project or with a progressive farmer or agri enterprise.

As part of the Student Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana (READY) programme in fourth year, students will undergo industry-oriented internships.

“Internship can be seen as a mini capsule of intense learning for a student, a way to apply the theory into practice, expand their knowledge base and a platform to integrate all learnings of formal classroom setup,” the report said.

ICAR has asked the institutes to ensure that the internship programme is aligned with students’ course choices. It has recommended that institutes appoint one or more coordinators for the planning, executing and monitoring of internship programme.

While the credit for 10-weeks internships in the first and second year is 10, the credit for internship in fourth year as part of the Students READY programme is 20. Those who want to exit with a UG-Certificate will have to undergo an internship in the first year and those who want to exit with UG-Diploma will have to do an internship in the second year. Those continuing need not take a 10-weeks internship but will have to finish their internship in the fourth year only.

According to the ICAR report, the evaluation of internship programmes will be done jointly by the host and parent institution.

“It should be 50% weightage for each. The student shall submit a report to the parent institute and present the learnings before the other students and faculty after the internship programme. The format of evaluation may be developed by the parent institute,” it said.

NEP 2020: Curriculum, employability

In line with the provisions in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the committee has restructured the undergraduate curricula to encourage students to take up entrepreneurship as a career path.

Students of UG agricultural courses will study entrepreneurship development and business management as a common course with the following three major objectives:

• To provide students an insight into the concept and scope of entrepreneurship
• To expose students to various aspects of establishment and management of small business units
• To enable students to develop financially-viable agribusiness proposals

“Experiential learning and entrepreneurship development programmes have been included for training students in real work situations to develop them as future entrepreneurs,” said Himanshu Pathak, director general, ICAR, in his foreword to the report.

A common course on personality development has been included for all students to “cultivate their inter-personal skills and improve employability”.

For some UG agriculture disciplines, projects have been kept as an integral part of the course to “enable students to develop required competencies and skill in either research or entrepreneurship or potential employment avenues rather than having only mere qualifications”.

(This is the final part of a three-part series on the changes in agriculture education proposed by the ICAR.)