Page 116 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 1

CPS1178 D. S. Hooda et al.
performance was done under the grading system. An undergraduate student
was required to secure at least 50% marks to pass in a course where a D grade
was awarded to him. A student was awarded C, B and A grades on securing
60-69, 70-79 and more than 80% marks, respectively. At the postgraduate
level, the pass percentage was 60 for which a student was awarded a C grade.
The conditions for awarding B and A grade remained the same as above.
On completion of degree requirements, a student was awarded Overall
Grade Point Average (OGPA) out of a maximum of 4.00. The universities/
institutes have these days switched over to the semester system and each
academic year is now comprised of two semesters namely semester I and II.
With the requirement of pass percentage remaining unchanged, the grading
is done on a 10-point scale and a student is awarded Overall Credit Point
Average (OCPA) out of a maximum of 10.00.
For M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs all the students have to take examinations
given by the instructors concerned, in various courses registered by them in
that particular semester in the major, minor supporting fields. For doctoral
students, after having successfully completed the major portion of the course
work (at least 75% as per the students’ proposed plan of work), a written
comprehensive examination is held in both major and minor fields, followed
by a pre-comprehensive oral examination. Thereafter, a qualifying viva-voce
examination is held to test the students’ general mastery of the subject.

6. Training to Statisticians in Agricultural Universities
Statisticians working in state agricultural universities and deemed
universities of ICAR, often, assist agricultural scientists and undertake
methodological investigations utilizing the data generated under different
agricultural experimentation programs. They have to work with people from
other professional backgrounds to solve practical problems. They use modern
computing methods to process and interpret data. In agricultural research the
emphasis is on the data to be understood and the problem to be solved rather
than on computing methods for their own sake.
A statistician who works with the agricultural scientists must have an
understanding of biological phenomena and should develop the ability to
coordinate with other people. He should be trained in analysis of statistics
packages such as SPSS, SAS etc. But this is not found in general. Due to ban
and limited appointments most of the agricultural statisticians are in old age
and are not aware of the recent packages. Moreover, only a few institutions
have advanced packages like Mat Lab., SPSS, SAS etc.

7. Suggestions for Improvement
The Education Division of ICAR is constantly making efforts to improve the
quality of human resource through funding of training programmes by way of

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