Degree colleges in Telangana to offer foreign languages to help students enhance their employability

Considering the current global scenario and to help students enhance their employability quotient, the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) and conventional universities have decided to introduce foreign languages at the undergraduate level from the next academic year.

To start with, French will be introduced as a second language in degree courses. The TSCHE will shortly enter into a Memorandum of Understanding for this with Alliance Francaise which offers French classes.

“French will be offered at A1 and A2 levels and students choosing this language can attend classes in blended mode. Any student will be eligible to take French at the UG level,” TSCHE Chairman Prof. R Limbadri said.

Similar agreements are being planned to launch German, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese languages at the undergraduate level. The decision was taken during a meeting convened by the TSCHE with vice chancellors of six universities here on Monday. As Osmania University is already offering courses in French and German, it will



function as a nodal agency for implementing foreign languages in colleges.

In another major decision, conventional universities have decided to allow students to pursue a subject in their course through distance education. For an example, if a student is interested in psychology, he or she can pursue this through the Osmania University Centre for Distance Education, School of Distance Learning and Continuing Education, Kakatiya University or Dr. BR Ambedkar Open University. Credits allotted to subject will be transferred to the students upon clearing the respective exams.

To encourage online learning, students will be permitted to select their electives on the Massive Open Online Courses platform up to 40 per cent of total credits in the course.

During the meeting, universities were also instructed to shut down degree colleges that have registered zero admissions at the undergraduate level for the last three consecutive years. Courses that got zero admissions would be either converted into another course or be closed.