The three-year degree course is among the several new ideas in the field of higher education.
The main reason for reducing the collegiate term of four years to one of three is somewhat obscure. Is it because the colleges are overcrowded? Or is it because the developing national economy cannot wait that long and wants more degree-holders delivered at shorter intervals?
Or is it because education has become so costly that a four-year course is considered a luxury not consistent with the equality of opportunities we seek under the socialist pattern? It is difficult to say what considerations weighed the most with the experts.
The three-year course means the automatic conversion of the present Intermediate colleges into full-fledged degree colleges. This change-over will be costly, but proportionately there will be a larger number of seats available for new entrants and perhaps also a reduction in the strength of the colleges.
(EDIT, May 14, 1957)
