UGC: The University Grants Commission will soon introduce four-year graduation degree courses in universities. This regard was discussed in the 556th meeting of the UGC chairperson and members held on 10 March. The UGC is likely to announce the official four-year graduation course soon. At the same time, the PhD rules were also amended in this meeting.
In this regard, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has prepared a draft framework, which, when implemented, will be in line with the National Education Policy 2020 from the next academic session on the higher education structure from bachelor’s degree to PhD. It is likely to be published in the public domain soon.
UGC President Prof. M Jagadesh Kumar said that the existing framework of undergraduate education lacks interdisciplinary approach. Now industries look for human resources with multiple capabilities rather than experts in a particular field. Hence there is a need to expose the students to the full range of holistic education, community engagement, service, environmental education and value-based education.
Internships with local industry and businesses are also essential to meet the demands of future jobs. For this to happen, the curriculum of general education needs to change.
This will be a four year UG course
The UGC chairman said that as per the proposed structure for four-year UG common courses, students will study a set of general and preparatory courses in natural sciences, humanities and social sciences during the first three semesters, irrespective of the specialization they opt for. .
Common courses include courses on English language, a regional language and understanding India, environmental science, health and wellness or yoga and sports, artificial intelligence and big data analysis during the first three semesters.
At the end of the third semester, students will have to declare a major, which will be a subject they wish to study in depth. The four-year course will offer 160 credits, with one credit accounting for 15 hours of classroom teaching.
Students can choose their major from courses ranging from astronomy and astrophysics to political science. The draft framework states that both the academic interest of the student and his/her performance in the first three semesters will be considered for allotting a disciplinary/interdisciplinary major.
Students will also have this option
In the four-year UG course to be implemented, students will also have the option of choosing two minor courses to broaden their knowledge and skills. Students can opt for humanities or social sciences or even a vocational subject.
At the beginning of the seventh semester students will undertake a research project, which will be their sole focus in the eighth and final semester, which they have chosen as the major subject. This is also stated in the draft.
Amendment was also done in PhD rules
The UGC has also proposed that 60 per cent of the total PhD seats will be filled by NET/JRF qualified students and the rest will be filled through an entrance test conducted by the university. In terms of eligibility, a relaxation of 5 per cent marks, which currently covers SC, ST, OBC (Non-Creamy Layer), is proposed to be extended to EWS candidates as well. Further, as suggested in NEP 2020, MPhil degree will be abolished from the academic session 2022-23. This has also been mentioned in the draft.