MU’s traditional BA, BSc, BCom to get ‘skills edge’

Mumbai: Skill-integrated BA, B Com, and B Sc courses are likely to be rolled out by Mumbai University from the next academic year, 2026-27. With interest in traditional courses in the city declining, as seen in this year’s degree college admission cut-offs, skill-integrated courses may offer a meaningful shift.

The skill-integrated courses, a scheme announced by University Grants Commission (UGC), will allow students to get theoretical education of the core subject for 50% of their total credits, and the remaining 50% can be obtained from multidisciplinary studies.The university plans to launch these programmes in collaboration with Maharashtra Skill Development Society, a senior university official said. UGC’s former chairman, M Jagadesh Kumar, who was at Mumbai University for a conference on ‘Vikas 2025′ (Venturing into Industry Knowledge, Apprenticeship and Skilling), said that of the 4.5 crore students pursuing higher education in the country, 70% are enrolled in BA, BCom, and B Sc, and that it is a challenge to empower them in the competitive era.“In the skill-integrated courses, students will complete the 50% credits in the core subject, be it BA in history or anthropology, and the remaining 50% credits can be earned through different skills – 10% in hospitality, 10% in machine learning, and so on. These skill-oriented courses can either be designed by the universities or they can allow students to complete it on platforms such as Swayam. At the end of their four-year programme, the skilled workforce will be readily absorbed by industries,” he said.

UGC set up an expert panel, which is meeting companies from different sectors, to design industry-specific courses. For instance, an insurance company will help set up a course in insurance, or a real estate firm can help design a course in their sector. These courses will be uploaded on the Swayam portal, said Kumar.Higher education minister Chandrakant Patil said the state govt is taking initiatives to restructure courses as per industry needs, focusing on skill development knowledge. About 500 dignitaries from Maharashtra, Goa, and Gujarat attended the conference.

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