DW BUREAU / PATIALA Punjabi University is starting six new five-year integrated post graduate programmes from this academic session. Disclosing this at a press conference, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Arvind said that these new courses are being introduced to adopt multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches in line with the new academic trends at the international level. He said that in the present times, it is necessary that we move forward in the education sector with this approach and redefine and redesign our fields of study on multidisciplinary lines. The new education policy too mentions that we move towards multidisciplinary education, he said. The credit system being given importance all over the world fits well into this approach. Talking about these new Integrated Programmes, he said that in fact we find Punjabi University as the most suitable place for such courses as a wide range of subjects are being taught here. The highly qualified faculty here in all the subjects like science, engineering, social sciences, languages, business, journalism etc is the strength of this University. The aim and objectives of the universities is to make their students employable as well as knowledgeable and learned. Both these aspects have been taken care of in the design of these new courses, he said. Dr. Balvir Singh Sandhu, Dean of Academic Affairs, said that these five-year integrated courses have been started in six disciplines where students can get admission on merit basis after +2. These six fields are related to Physical and Chemical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Social Sciences, Languages and Performing & Visual Arts. He said that these courses have been designed on a 3+2 basis, meaning that if any student wants to leave after three years, he would be awarded a graduate degree in the relevant subject. Those who choose to complete a full five years will be able to get their Master's degree from Punjabi University without any entrance test etc. Dr. Manjit Singh, Coordinator of the Admission Cell, said that it's very encouraging that a large number of students are showing interest in these courses. He said we have got a huge response as within 24 hour of opening the portal, the applications are coming in large numbers to us. (editor@dailyworld.in)