Universities in Telangnana are bidding to be more market-friendly by introducing two new courses, a three-year BSc in Data Sciences and a BCom in Business Analytics, in degree colleges for the upcoming academic session.

Data science and analytics are the hot new choices for students rights now, and Telangana universities are pitching for that market.





Plus, there will be other vocational courses, specifically for government colleges in the state: B.Sc. in Dairy Tech, Crop Production, Fisheries, Forestry and Office Management.

Telangana commissioner of collegiate education Navin Mittal said the latter courses are designed for students looking to pursue careers in agriculture and animal husbandry, and Office Management course is meant to cater to the needs of the service sector.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a challenge to design new courses. Prof. R Limbadri, vice-chairman of the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) said course design needs to take a 'blended approach'; courses would have to so designed as to fit both online and offline modes of instruction.





"We are in the process of revamping the existing courses in order to make them suitable for online teaching as well. There are some topics in the sciences that cannot be undertaken online, while others can. Conducting regular physical classes is also not a possibility anymore. Therefore, students must be ready for a blended form of education from now on."

Prof Limbadri added that state governments are waiting for UGC guidelines on the academic calendar before taking any further decisions. "As per these guidelines, we will decide what portions of the syllabus in each course can be rendered online or offline," he added.