As per the guidelines given by the All India Council of Technical Education, the Masters of Computer Application (MCA) has been reduced to two years from the three-year course. This shall be applicable from the upcoming academic session onwards.
The official note issued by the AICTE says that “The issue regarding the change in the duration of the MCA program from three years to two years has been engaging the attention of UGC or AICTE for quite some time in the past”. The notice further added that, “Hence, the MCA course shall be of two years duration from 2020- 21”
This decision was taken in 2019 and shall come into effect from this year onwards. However, the students who already enrolled in the college will not be affected by this scheme and will be continuing with the three-year scheme.
The AICTE will not allow any change in the syllabus for the students in the two-year course. This would be impacting the students joining as lateral entry.
This decision has been taken as the course began to reduce popularity among the students. AICTE also made few changes in the BTech courses. The engineering students will have to study Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Embedded SW, Internet SW, Mobility, Analytics, and Cloud, as per the statement issued by the AICTE. More importance will be given to the interdisciplinary courses and the institutes will only be allowed to launch courses in the emerging fields.
The AICTE states for the new admission to MCA courses that, “passed BCA/ Bachelor Degree in Computer Science Engineering or equivalent degree or passed BSc/ BCom/ BA with mathematics at class l2 level or at graduation level (with additional bridge courses as per the norms of the concerned University). Obtained at least 50 per cent marks (45 per cent marks in case of candidates belonging to reserved category) in the qualifying examination can apply”.