Rohtak varsity designs courses to engage students in community service

With an aim to integrate social responsibility with academic learning, authorities of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, have decided to introduce a 4-credit community engagement and service course for post-graduate students and a 2-credit course for undergraduate students in line with National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

As per a statement issued by the MDU administration here recently, the underlying idea behind launching these courses is to engage students with community-based projects, promoting social awareness and responsibility.

The decision was announced during the 5th annual meeting of the university outreach programme advisory committee, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Rajbir Singh.

“Today’s youth are becoming increasingly disconnected from their families and social responsibilities. Their interest in social concerns has significantly declined. If social issues are incorporated into academic curricula, the youth can play a constructive role in the nation’s development. Education without social engagement is meaningless. Inspired by Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, who dedicated his life to addressing social issues and raising awareness through education, the university is now taking a historic step in this direction,” he said.

As per University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, post-graduate students shall devote 90 hours — 60 hours of fieldwork and 30 hours of report preparation — to community service.

Undergraduate students shall complete 180 hours — of which 120 hours will be dedicated to fieldwork and 60 hours to documentation and report-writing.

Each student will be assigned a supervisor at the institutional level, and will have the freedom to choose a mentor within their specific area of work.

Centre for University Outreach Programme Director Anju Dhiman presented an annual report during the meeting.