New Delhi: Academics are wary of the latest regulation by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which says students who have completed four-year undergraduate courses can now directly pursue doctoral degrees. Academics say these students will have little to no research experience and will be lost in their first few years of study.
The UGC had issued an important notification earlier this week modifications for PhD program including eligibility for admission and evaluation procedures.
Another argument raised by educationists was that the implementation of the four-year undergraduate program designed under the National Education Policy (NEP) has not been implemented in all universities. As it is a prerequisite for direct entry into the graduate PhD program, current students must continue to earn a master’s degree to be eligible for it.
Rohit, assistant professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said that in the Indian higher education system, every program has served a purpose. Undergraduate courses introduce the student to a subject, Master’s provides a specialization, an M.Phil degree gives them an interim training to do research and then finally a PhD helps them establish themselves as a subject matter expert. Does The latest rules disrupt this structure.
He said, “It seems that the UGC is trying to emulate the American system of an integrated PhD, but it stands to do more harm than good. Without specialized knowledge in a subject, no student can submit a doctoral research paper cannot write, whether he is a student of the humanities or the sciences.”
Stating that the move would discourage students from joining doctoral programmes, he argued, “At JNU we have seen an improvement in the academic rigor of students with time and degree. Students who have not received excellent education in their bachelor’s degree will naturally shy away from going for doctorate when they are not able to perform at par with their contemporaries in their bachelor’s degree course or master’s course.
Removal of M.Phil, Master’s Program
Debraj Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Ramjas College, University of Delhi, said that doing away with the clause that compels students to publish research papers in journals is a positive step. However, the decision to do away with the M.Phil and Master’s programs will force students to spend the first few years of doctoral studies learning research methodology.
He said, “Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in our country are designed in such a way where students do not get to do any research. While the M.Phil program gave them space to do a full-fledged research, removing it will lead to a doctorate.” A problem would arise for aspiring students, they would be forced to spend the first few years of their doctoral studies trying to figure out the process.
Srikanth Kondapalli, dean of the School of International Studies and professor of China Studies at JNU, said the move appears to be a measure by the UGC to implement the NEP, adding that there are not enough undergraduate colleges with a four-year programme. ,
“Abolishing M.Phil degree makes sense as it now makes doctoral degrees conform to universal standards. However, in JNU, where students from all walks of life and sections of society come, the M.Phil served as a preparatory course for students who did not have the potential to pursue a doctoral degree.
“Since the four-year long undergraduate program of the NEP is not implemented in all universities across the country, this provision is meant to help technical students more,” he said.
On removing the requirement to publish research articles in peer-reviewed publications, Prof. Mukherjee said, “For the past few years, we have seen an increase in the number of bogus journals in which students will pay money to be published. This provision Will prohibit publication of poor quality research papers.
It is important to learn the correct methodology
Professor Pankaj Kumar of Allahabad University said that the UGC has made higher education institutions an area of rigorous experimentation. Research should be an endeavor for all doctoral students that they can only achieve if they have an academic mind and the motivation to do research on their own.
He said, “After the advent of internet, students have lost their inclination towards research. Most of their work is a simple copy and paste. Also, by removing the courses which teach them to do research, students will not be able to do research. “
He said that pre-doctoral curriculum as per international standards is the need of the hour so that aspiring students can learn the right methodology and design to pursue doctoral degree.
new rules
new phd rules – “University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedures for Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2022” – says that a candidate must have a minimum of 75 per cent marks in “aggregate or its equivalent grade” on a point scale following the grading system Should be ,
If not, the student must pursue a one-year master’s program and score at least 55 percent.
The rules further say, “A 1-year Master’s degree program followed by a 4-year bachelor’s degree program, or a 2-year master’s degree program followed by a 3-year bachelor’s degree program, or a qualification declared equivalent to a master’s degree by the relevant statutory regulatory body, with at least 55 percent marks in aggregate or its equivalent grade wherever grading system is followed”.
UGC has removed the clause “publishing paper in peer-reviewed journal” as mandatory for Ph.D. The 2016 regulations stated that PhD scholars “must have published at least one research paper in a refereed journal and made two paper presentations in conferences/symposia before submitting the dissertation/thesis for adjudication”.
Several provisions have been made in the latest UGC regulations to improve the quality of research by students and the assistance provided by their advisors/guides. Women candidates and persons with disabilities will be given additional time to complete their thesis.
Scholars who previously had to appear before the Research Advisory Committee to present their findings and progress once every six months, will now have to do so every semester.
Under the new rule, faculty members with less than three years’ service before retirement are barred from accepting new students. While the move encourages admission of an increased number of students to PhD programmes, the previously proposed Common Entrance Test for PhD has been abandoned.
The new rules also allow each supervisor to guide two international research scholars in addition to their domestic students.
(Edited by Geetalakshmi Ramanathan)
Read also: Only 34% of Indian schools have internet access, less than 50% have functional computers, shows data