PU Department to redesign subject combinations

To ensure that pre-university students keep abreast of the demands of the market, the Department of Pre-University Education plans to redesign subject combinations. C. Shikha, Director of DPUE, said on Thursday they want to redesign the PU combinations in tune with undergraduate courses and job opportunities. Sources in the department said many of the combinations offered, particularly in the Arts streams, were “archaic”. These have to be updated to ensure that more students opt for them. For instance, introducing computer sciences in Arts is something the department is considering. “We do not want these courses to be rigid. We are awaiting a report from the academic section so that we can reinvent the combination and harness different competencies of students,” an senior official in the department said. Currently, 55 subject combinations are offered in PU colleges across all streams, with the maximum number of combinations in Arts (39). The Commerce and Science combinations are eight each. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait said the department was in the process of redesigning the combinations and had roped in academics to finalise the logistics of the process.