Colleges in south Tamil Nadu start adopting ‘OBE’ education model

MADURAI: Autonomous arts and science colleges in Madurai and other southern districts of Tamil Nadu have gradually started adopting ‘outcome-based education’ (OBE), a model of education which is gaining prominence in the region.
According to experts, through this model, a student could have precise understanding of the programme he/ she chooses from broader and narrower perspectives. OBE is also more student-centric and helps them become more employable as they have a clear idea of what skills they would be able to develop through the programme, experts added.
Explaining the model, principal of Thiagarajar College D Pandiaraja told TOI that under this, if a student chooses an arts stream for instance, he/she would be explained about its broader outcome. They are then explained about programme specific outcome – for instance, BA English – and the possible job opportunities by pursuing the course. Finally, they are told about the course outcome, which is about what he/ she would gain by learning a particular paper.
Pandiaraja also said that in the academic council meeting conducted by the college last week, it was decided to revise the syllabus to implement OBE from the 2019-20 academic year. “Based on OBE model, we would assess the students’ performance, do mapping and make changes to the syllabus the next academic year if needed,” he said.
While a handful of colleges in the southern districts have already tweaked their syllabus and are implementing OBE from this academic year itself, a few others said that they would consider introducing it from the next academic year.
The colleges said that by implementing OBE, it could help them attain ‘good weightage’ in terms of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rating, apart from benefiting students.
Senior faculty from Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College in Sivakasi also said that they are planning to adopt the method very soon. “We have planned to implement the system from this year itself,” a professor said.
Meanwhile, officials from the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) said that more colleges would start adopting OBE in the coming years. “The colleges have already started tweaking their syllabus to suit OBE model. Next year, we can expect more colleges to adopt this,” a senior official from the university said.