JMI gets New Departments as it enters its Centenary Year – A Report

Amidst the centenary year celebrations, Jamia Millia Islamia introduces four new departments in its curriculum; hailed as a progressive move by most but some even went to bash the administration for their shortcomings. How Jamia has made its curriculum more inclusive over the years by introducing distinct courses is another interesting fact to check?

On the 29th of October, Jamia Millia Islamia completed 99 years of its inception and celebrated its 99th Foundation Day with three days of festivities to complement. On this glorious occasion the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Prof. Najma Akhtar appealed to all students and staff members to put their best efforts in making Jamia better and reach the pinnacle of success in every regard.
During the celebrations in the Talimi Mela, the VC announced the opening of four new departments in the University namely – Design and Innovation; Hospital Management and Elder Care; Environmental Sciences and Foreign Languages. She further added that the University is planning to put Jamia Millia Islamia on the national map in respect of Environmental Studies and Climate Action and apart from the four proposed departments, the University is also planning to start a Medical College-cum-Hospital in the University Campus. She also said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured her of all the assistance in this regard and has further sent his best regards in this respect.

Just after taking charge as the Vice Chancellor our Hon’ble VC promised on focusing on new courses and enhanced curriculum in the University, while showing interest in collaborations with other institutions for research related courses.
Earlier this year, four new courses were also initiated in the university which included Master of Science in Banking and Financial Analytics under the Department of Economics, M.Tech in Environmental Science and Engineering. Other courses included were PG Diploma in Molecular Diagnostics and an Advanced Diploma in Turkish Language.
Several short term Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP) were also introduced by the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE), in collaboration with the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC). In the previous session JMI had introduced a three year professional course in B.Sc (Aeronautics) in collaboration with Pawan Hans Limited (PHL). It is a unique dual degree course with a graduation degree awarded by the University and a certificate in ‘Aircraft Maintenance Engineering’ issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The course is a grand success, running in its second year, with a good feedback flooding in from the students.

While talking to some students of the University, interestingly we found that most of the students find this move of opening new professional courses, a progressive one, some said

“It feels nice to see Jamia focusing on developing new professional Courses that caters to developing trends in job sector”

says Nawaz Ahmed Khan, from B.Sc. (Aeronautics)

On the other hand many students argue that the University should first focus on improving the existing departments and courses and then think of opening new departments, in this regard the VC had promised that she would replace, update and modernize certain old courses and sought the best for the students.
I personally believe that the administration should improve the infrastructure of the existing departments and provide them with the essential facilities which should include a separate library for every department, regular workshops and seminars related to their subjects and a Placement & Internship Cell along with that the University should open new departments and courses for both professional and research related studies, but more emphasis should be given on opening ‘regular’ courses rather than ‘self-finance’ ones which will help the financially weak students to pursue quality education in the university.

As someone once said, “Our future is always coming up with surprises for us,” these new surprises should definitely help the students and take Jamia Millia Islamia on the path of excellence.

Sahil Kazmi
Business Administration, Jamia Millia Islamia