STATEMENT BY COAS ON B TECH COURSE FOR NDA ENTRY : VETERANS DEBATE

Background & Trigger

A short - 37sec video clip (att) of Gen Upendra Dwivedi,COAS on ' BTech course for the NDA entry ' circulating on social media caught the attention of MVI which invited views/ responses from veterans and academicians to clarify or elaborate the context and significance of the Army Chief's statement. 

The encouraging and educative responses received from the respondents collectively give the reader an overview of the content of three years training at NDA and also an insight into the subjects & syllabus both for academics and military training which on paper has a ratio of 70 : 30 but in the 24 hrs daily hectic training schedule it is actually 30 : 70 with the military training aspect being given priority / importance over academics . Ironically, this aspect of '70:30' ratio needs a much needed exclusive & objective debate . Notwithstanding, the responses published below will surely enhance readers awareness of the content of NDA academic and military training subjects .

Editor ,MVI

AIR CMDE NITIN SATHE, ex Director Trg NDA

This was planned to be implemented way back in 2009 and the NDA had geared up for the same. Unfortunately, if I remember right, there was opposition from the Army as well as some reluctance from the IAF regarding the additional time needed for the degree. We had suitably modified the training so that the academic content was adequately spiked up ( some ‘adjustments’ too!) so that the University granting the degree was satisfied.

Now that the NDU is functional in some form (?) the course curriculum for a BTech program can be pushed through in 3 years + some additional hours at the finishing academies can also be added to make the total.

I also don’t see why all entrants cannot be given a BTech degree. The same is being followed at other academies that I have visited abroad and secondly- it is sure to help (a) to understand the hi tech environment and (b) will be helpful when officers choose to opt out of service/ for rehabilitation in the civvy street.

LT GEN ASIT MISTRY ,ex Comdt NDA

I suppose it is about Army accepting B Tech Degree programme for Army Cdts at NDA which so far was restricted to AF & Navy Cdts.

DR OP SHUKLA ,ex Principal NDA:

Truly speaking NDA Academic curriculum does not require any compartmentalized degree which is being imparted till now like BA , BSc , BTech. Under NEP 2020 there is full scope for 360 degree growth. There are enough provisions for major, minor, ability enhancement, skills development, IKS, vocational training ,etc., with credit guidelines under one degree pgme ( BSc Techology, BSC Military Sc ,etc )It is a high time to review it and formulate a common pgme across all services . This will be better and much more rewarding to cadets. Degree nomenclature doesn’t matter. Common curriculum with electives as per service requirement in V & VI terms can be given.

The finishing academies mandate need not be tweaked for the sake of degree.

GP CAPT JOHNSON CHACKO,ex Instr DSSC,CDM,NDA,AFA

The Armed Forces needs Humans as well as Technical geeks. We need officers who can take decisions based on intuition as well as data sciences. Technology is essential to fight wars, humanities is needed to make peace. Wars don't end without peace. Peace is the default state, war is an aberration.

We have graduates from humanities who join AFA directly.

LT GEN RAKESH SHARMA,ex Adjutant General

As Gen Mistry writes, AF and Navy have 100% B tech passing out from NDA. These Services have their tech requirements for the officer cadre.

The moot question is that of the 1800 odd commissioned yearly as officers in the Army, do we require all engineers? That social sciences and humanities have no value left? What about powers of analysis honed in by humanities?

Indeed technology is the way of future wars, in my opinion there are finite numbers of engineers that are essential. At one time it was worked out at about 500 ! Also largest part of army is committed on daily operations.

The Services commitments are chalk and cheese. And good decisions were taken after great deliberation that a good mix of tech and NT officers is best for the Army.

GP CAPT TP SRIVASTAVA , ex Instr DSSC ,CDM, AFA

Cosmetic degrees are of little help either to individual or institutions. A contemporary engineering college awards B Tech degree after 4 years Fill time curriculum at colleges IIT and others. But intellectuals in military think that B Tech degree of same standard will be awarded after 3 years at NDA and 1 more year at IMA. Do we require knowledge of theory of relativity to grasp that quality cannot be accomplished where 70:30 is time for Academic and ODT( Military) . Earning a comparable B Tech degree is 100% time for Academics. Compression in time schedule does not produce quality product. Dedicated military institutions on same lines as Navy's INS Lonavala/ INA is the need. It is better to live and cope with marginal shortages rather than pick so called experts from the field for 4 to 6 years.

CDR RAVINDRA PATHAK ex Sqn Cdr NDA

I am not sure about present status of degrees but way back when before degrees were introduced in NDA naval cadets were compulsory Science stream and we got a parchchi/ slip from Bombay University which wasn't even worth the paper it was printed on but was supposed to be the stepping stone for further studies ! Many Army students were in the same stream as Naval cadets. Statement on

airforce cadets is correct.

Most of those who didn’t have a science degree from any university beyond this parchchi/ slip did well to handle the modern military equipment during their time in service, brilliance was also seen in some cases like Paul Raj.

To put it simply we don’t need to have detailed knowledge of telecommunications when using mobile.

Like our maths instructor at NDA used to say we were there to become soldiers and not mathematicians.

IMHO there is a need to make changes in syllabus at NDA and further in respective service academies to ensure that at the end of the complete training before commissioning the individual gets a degree. Not everyone needs to get a science degree and why not a non technical degree which may be more useful for those who don’t join technical branches. After all we now have the DRY LIST as navy puts it. These officers can pursue Management degree and join civil job market. This would need the present 3 months capsule for retiring officers to be modified to a 6 months capsule to ensure that they have a less stressful experience getting the degree from IIMs.

LT GEN ASIT MISTRY

Let me clarify somewhat.

When the B Tech option was introduced in NDA, only the AF & Navy chose to adopt it, and they adopted it for 100 percent input from NDA. Army, at that time, had chosen not to adopt B Tech programme at all.

There is no doubt that humanities are as important as science and technology.

In fact, irrespective of academic stream being pursued at NDA, the academic syllabus continues to have balanced, all round mix of humanities, languages, science, technology, skills etc. It is just that depending on the stream the relative weightage would vary. Incidentally, this is completely in line with NEP 2020. In that sense, NDA’s academic programme has been way ahead of its time.

What appears from the clip of the comments of COAS is that Army would hereafter accept some NDA Cdts pursue B Tech while the rest may continue with the existing three streams of Humanities, Science & Computer Science. The last part is a conjecture based on the limited clip heard on social media.

BRIG S SANGWAN:

A lesson I learnt during HDMC-2 ,wherein a two year MBA can be modified to suit the needs of the military and a revised syllabus be condensed into 11 months with adequate emphasis on application, projects and practical exposure in the environment. NDA too can work out a broad based syllabus with a balance between sciences and humanities and work out a degree in 3 years. Service requirements and recent technology trends can be suitably included. NEP facilitates it. For specialisation follow up courses are available in service including affiliation with IITs. Periodic reviews and feedback from the services can keep it updated.

GP CAPT JOHNSON CHACKO

Military History needs to be the core subject in all military training institutions for officers. The rest may be plugged in. HDMC has a decent mix of Humanities (Intuition) and Quantitative Analysis. They use different parts of the brain. Very few excel in both, but both are needed in the Armed Forces. Flying is an Art based on Science. One needs to have adequate knowledge to understand why he moves a lever before putting on a switch in the cockpit.

A 4 yr MMS degree with Military History as the core subject should be adequate. An Air Force pilot will never use the Engineering part of the degree unless we want to cater for his second innings. We need to focus on what he needs in his branch of specialisation. We can always have a modular add on if he needs to be restreamed to another branch later while in service.

LT GEN ASIT MISTRY

I would just add that we need to understand & accept the UGC & AICTE norms w/o which a duly recognised degree would not be possible.

While the technical Edn ie B Tech etc (incl Mgmt Studies) fall with in the purview of AICTE, all other courses (less medical & allied disciplines) are under UGC.

As per AICTE norms, a B Tech Degree requires 160 credits over a 4 year (or longer) academic programme. The essential ceiling is that not more than 40 credits can be accumulated over one academic year. Hence the minimum duration for B Tech would be 4 yrs, thus 3 yrs at NDA & one year at the respective service academy is essential for B Tech.

As against this, for BSc, BA or BSc (Comptr Sc) you need 120 credits over 3 years as per UGC norms. Thus these three can be completed & awarded at NDA, B Tech would need the fourth year.