Larry A. Watts 
With the implementation of the Uniform Academic Calendar, Islamia College of Science and Commerce (ICSC), Srinagar has become the first college to take the initiative to launch all its programs under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 .The college is ready to start a four-year undergraduate program whose framework has been finalized.
For more on the college’s achievements and roadmap, Rising Kashmir’s Education Correspondent Riyaz Bhat talked to the principal of ICSC Sheikh Aijaz Bashir.
What have been your priorities since joining ICSC? Have you introduced any new courses for students?
I joined the college in June 2019. This college has been autonomous since 2015 and now it is scheduled for the extension of the autonomous course.
After joining the college, we introduced some programs in 2020. We call them jump programs. We have introduced integrated postgraduate programs in zoology, botany and chemistry. Simultaneously, we converted the undergraduate programs of Zoology, Botany and Chemistry into honors programs and also introduced these programs for graduate studies.
We also introduced honors in economics which were the first of their kind in the college. Later, we introduced nanoscience and nanotechnology. About 14 courses have been remodeled or redesigned and introduced in the colleges.
In addition, we have increased the student capacity for each program. We conduct the admissions process through a system in which the merit list is prepared based on students’ grades at the upper secondary level. With the result, we got very deserving students for the college.
Do you think it was necessary to modernize the college which only focused on teaching science and commerce? »
ICSC used to run a commerce program, but that was stopped once we introduced honors and other integrated programs. Another intervention regarding academic excellence was badly needed. By excellence, we mean that we managed the programs and there were no results for the students, so we reviewed our system, we took the necessary initiatives to solve it. One of the significant initiatives that our college has taken has been to introduce continuous assessment in which we assess students at every stage. Normally what we do is we start teaching and take the exams of the semester at the end, but we have reviewed this process and introduced bi-weekly exams for 25% of grades at different steps. Our future plan is to increase continuous assessment from 25% to 40% for student improvement. End-of-semester exams would then only be 60 percent. We are trying to tweak the system.
What is the status of the uniform academic calendar that the Department of Higher Education has proposed to implement in synchronization with the national academic calendar.
Higher education department took a very good initiative in which our students had to wait for a long time for national exams, our results are declared in the month of February, so Jammu and Kashmir students have to wait until June-July when The CBSE results are coming. So, in order to bridge the gap, a common academic calendar was released to merge the academic session with the national calendar. Islamia College will implement the Common Academic Calendar this year even though we have notified our calendar which will start from August 1st.
Do you think the common academic calendar is suitable for Jammu and Kashmir in terms of the topography of the region?
Colleges here have 50 days of winter vacation from December 27 to February 15. If we’re looking for more of a vacation, that’s where we’re missing it. Under one pretext or another, our system is dragged and our students are left behind. But when you set the date and a schedule, students will automatically be ready to join academics, regardless of weather conditions.
Regarding the National Education Policy (NEP), is the ICSC ready to implement it?
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has decided to implement the NEP from this year only. A lot has been done so far. The NEP speaks of a four-year undergraduate program whose framework has been finalized. It is now being revised and the final result will arrive shortly.
Tell us about your college’s computer, electronics and IT skills development centre?
The Islamia College of Science and Commerce-Skill Development Center (ICSC-SDC) under the collaboration of Department of Informatics, Electronics and Informatics as well as Rays (all university colleges in Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal districts ) is a community of professionals in the field of technology who are experts in technological innovations and research and who pass on skills to the Community.
The ICSC-SDC is dedicated to sharing and exchanging ideas and knowledge for the betterment of society in general and the technology sector in particular. Under the National Skills Development Corporation, many sector skills councils representing the respective industries are being established. One of the mandates of Sector Skills Councils is to develop Qualification Packs (QPs), National Occupational Standards (NOS) for various professional roles in their respective sectors. It is important to integrate the skills required for specific professional roles in the higher education system in order to create employable graduates.
The NEP has a provision only if a student wants to discontinue or switch to a new course. Do you receive such applications from students?
This is a very important point to understand. This provision speaks of multiple inputs and outputs. As the principal of the college, I regularly receive a number of requests from students asking for clearance certificates and this is a very genuine thing. Now, since the NEP talks about giving the certificate after one year and the diploma after two years, it makes sense. With this provision, there is no wastage of work done by the students and the policy then provides chances to complete the degree from diploma certificate to full diploma.
What is the status of infrastructure development in the college?
There has been a huge infrastructural development in the college. Our capital expenditure has been huge and the development of the college is quite visible. We have good human resources, smart classrooms and all the other facilities needed to be in an educational institution.
Do you intend to extend the capacity of places for students?
For the prestigious undergraduate program in Business Management, the College has increased the number of admissions from 80 to 160 to meet the huge demand the course is attracting year on year. Perhaps next year we will ask the administrative service to give us the possibility of operating this college in two shifts. If possible, we will increase our places and organize lessons in morning and evening shifts.
Are there scholarships currently in place at the college and is there a special reserve for bright students or students belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS)?
Yes, we have introduced EWS category from this year as per government policy and we are trying to help underprivileged or orphan students by providing scholarships.
