Tech-oriented C-25 curriculum to be adopted for diploma courses

With an aim to create a “job-ready” workforce for the industries, the State government has revised the curriculum for Diploma courses, to orient it towards emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), e-mobility, drones, and renewable energy, and integrate it with the industrial practices in these sectors today. The curriculum called “C-25”, whose draft has been released for 41 branches, will be implemented from the academic year of 2025-26.

C-25 curriculum, also for the first time, introduces an integrated pedagogy system where theory and practicals will be taught simultaneously in the classroom, not separately.

“Karnataka is the first state to implement an integrated pedagogy system for diploma courses. This will enable students to learn effectively,” said an official from the Department of Technical Education (DTE). Under the new curriculum, a 13-week structured internship or taking up a capstone project with industry, in the sixth semester has been made mandatory. Earlier, it was optional.

Earlier, in 2020, the State government had revised the curriculum for polytechnic courses calling it C-20, which has been updated in the name of C-25. The C-25 syllabus has been prepared taking on board industry persons in those particular sectors on board in collaboration with the National Institute of Technical Training and Research (NITTR), Bengaluru.

Technical education at the diploma level is intended to produce a skilled workforce, the backbone of any industry. Currently, over 50,000 students are studying in 107 government, 43 aided, and over 150 private polytechnic colleges in the State.

The curriculum is designed in such a way that it includes workplace skills, relevant core disciplinary concepts, and specialization pathways. The new curriculum includes Foundation Studies in the first year, Core Discipline Studies in the second, and Career Pathways – Employment and Entrepreneurship and internship/Capstone project, in the third year. By the time students finish their three-year diploma, they will have acquired skills in foundational subjects aligned to National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) Level 3, and in their chosen subject for specialisation acquire skills aligned to NSQF-5.

With an integrated pedagogy – theory and practicals taught together in the classroom – the curriculum focuses on concepts and their application in the workplace. This enhances student capability as they understand how concepts are applied in operations or maintenance along with safety. Such an approach helps students learn better irrespective of their cognitive ability as it helps students translate knowledge to skills as well as enables hands-on learning, the curriculum says.

Students have to mandatorily study Environmental Science, Indian Constitution and two papers of Kannada as audit subjects in the first and second years of their courses. 

“C-25 is a very advanced curriculum with good integration with the industry to make the students job-ready. We are presently collecting feedback on the draft. All feedback will be considered, and if necessary, the draft will be revised and submitted to the government for approval,” said Prasanna H., Director, DTE.