Students pursuing degree courses from this academic year in Telangana will have to mandatorily study the cyber security course with the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) rolling out the new courses to be taught in the second year.
Minister for Education P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, Education Secretary Vakati Karuna, TSCHE Chairman R. Limbadri and other officials launched the cyber security course, which will focus on not just creating awareness among youngsters but also empowering them with tools to guard themselves in the cyberspace.
The four-credit course has been designed by experts from the Osmania University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Hyderabad, NALSAR and Police department and will be mandatory for all degree students, including those pursuing BSc, BCom, BA and BBA programmes.
The course comprises five modules, including introduction to Cyber Security, basics of Electronic Governance and Cyber Laws, introduction of Cybercrimes and Digital Forensics, Social Networks and Cyber Security, e-commerce and Cyber Security.
The assessment will be done through theory exams comprising 70% marks and practical examination for 30% marks. For practical sessions, students have to either opt for virtual cyber forensic labs with live demo case studies or internships with organisations such as cybercrime police stations, cyber forensic laboratories, banks and IT companies, which are in the cyber security business, the Minister said.
She further said that as per the directions of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who insists on reforms in higher education in tune with changing times, this new course is being introduced with an aim to make students cyber warriors. Ms. Karuna said that a full-fledged course in cyber security would be introduced from the next academic year.
The Minister also released the ISB report on ‘Assessing Assessments in Higher Education’ in the State universities. The ISB recommended doing away with the present practice of rote-learning methods and wanted the introduction of a continuous evaluation system with more focus on formative assessment. Additional DG (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar Jain and TSCHE vice chairpersons V. Venkataramana and S.K. Mahmood were present.
