The cafeteria approach to curriculum design is based on the principles of flexibility and empowerment that allow students to customise their curriculum based on their aspirations as well as in fulfilling the institutional ambitions, stakeholders' needs and contextual factors. It allows students to choose courses from baskets of different course categories. The courses in each course category are like the dishes in the menu of a cafeteria that can be changed very quickly to meet the changing tastes and preferences of the consumers (i.e. stakeholders).
The cafeteria approach to curriculum design is non-linear, agile and can respond to the changing needs of the ecosystem rapidly without compromising the quality of education. It closes the gaps between the employability of the graduates and the labour markets. It is an alternative to the traditional rigid, linear, unresponsive cyclic curriculum design process.
