AICTE reduces MCA course duration from 3 years to 2 years

The change in the duration of the MCA course will not see any reduction in course content or hours, the AICTE has assured
AICTE
AICTE

Master of Computer Application (MCA) will henceforth be a two-year programme, the All India Council for Technical Education in a statement announced on Monday from the academic year of 2020-21. The 545th meeting of the University Grants Commission had considered this issue on December 19 last year but this notification officially approves that the MCA course shall be of two years duration from 2020-21. 

But this might not affect MCA students as much, said AICTE Chairman Anil D Sahasrabuddhe. "There won't be much change as students studying BSc Computer Science or IT Bachelor of Computer Application were anyway joining the MCA course directly in the second year," he told Edex.

To be eligible for an MCA course one has to have a BCA, Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering or an equivalent degree, BSc, BCom, BA with Mathematics in their 10+2 level or graduation level with additional bridge courses as required by the university concerned. The candidate has to have secured at least 50 per cent marks (45% for reserved category) in the qualifying examination.

AICTE had earlier said that this decision was prompted by the fact that the number of students coming in from unrelated streams such as commerce, arts and basic sciences had fallen drastically in the past few years. They had also ensured that the move will neither see the course content being reduced nor will it affect the course hours. The three-year programme was started in the late 1990s to cater to the large demand from the IT industry that catered to not only BTech computer science and IT graduates but even pass-outs from courses such as BSc (information technology), BSc (computer science) and BCA (bachelors in computer application).

The AICTE had also stated that classrooms meant for the three-year course will be used for other courses and additional faculty could be posted for several other newer programmes.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
EdexLive
www.edexlive.com