“As announced in NEP 2020 and to allow students to acquire multiple skills, UGC is coming up with new guidelines to allow a candidate to pursue two degree programs in physical mode simultaneously. The degree can be obtained either from the same or from different universities,” said UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Tuesday.
As per the ‘background’ the guidelines stated “With the rapid increase in the demand for higher education and limited availability of seats in regular stream, many higher education institutions have started a number of programs in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL)/ mode of learning. In order to meet the aspirations of the students… the issue of allowing students to pursue two academic programs simultaneously has been examined by the Commission in view of the proposals envisaged in the NEP 2020 which are formal and non-formal education. mode.”
Guidelines for running two programs simultaneously
Objective
- No hard separation between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams,
- To eliminate harmful hierarchies and silos between different areas of learning
- enable a person to study one or more specific areas of interest at a deeper level
new plan
- A student may pursue two full-time academic programs in physical mode provided that in such cases, the class time for one program does not overlap with the class time of the other programme.
- A student can pursue two academic programmes, one in full-time physical mode and the other in Open and Distance Learning (ODL)/online mode; or up to two ODL/online programs simultaneously
- It is not dual degree but a student will get two different degree
- Based on these guidelines, universities may develop mechanisms to allow their students to pursue two academic programs simultaneously
- The multiple entry-exit reform introduced under the National Education Policy 2022 will be applicable whether in physical mode or online mode, whether pursuing only one degree or two degrees simultaneously
Kumar said that in its endeavor to provide students more flexibility towards holistic, integrated and learner-centred education and that HEIs can admit about 3% of students to physical campuses, “many universities are now offering both ODL and online programmes. And with the revised rules for online education, which we are going to announce in a few weeks, many high quality institutions in India will start offering online degrees as well. Keeping in view the need to provide multiple opportunities to the students to acquire knowledge from different subjects, the Commission discussed this in great detail in its last meeting held on 31st March and the Commission has decided to issue guidelines which will enable the students. To pursue two academic programs simultaneously,” it said, adding that a combination of physical mode as well as online mode should be used to give more freedom to the students to acquire multiple skills.
A student can pursue two full-time academic programs in physical mode provided that in such cases, the class timings for one program do not overlap with the class timings of the other program or one full-time in physical mode and the other in ODL/online mode Ho. Or up to two ODL/online programs simultaneously.
Explaining the plan, Kumar said: “If a student is pursuing BA (Economics) in physical mode as a day scholar, the student will have the opportunity to pursue another degree program of the same level in a nearby university.” There will also be an evening programme. So it is going to provide new opportunities to the students. Also, a student can pursue two academic programmes, one full time in physical mode and the other in open and distance learning mode or online mode. The degree or diploma programs under these guidelines shall be governed by the rules notified by the UGC from time to time and shall also be governed by the respective statutory and professional councils, wherever applicable.
However, some academics believe that similar objectives could have been achieved without the new guidelines. “Multiple skill sets must be a subset of a degree and cannot move between two degrees. This decision requires review, given that there are existing options to achieve the desired objective without the need for this new policy, To pursue two degrees simultaneously,” said S Vaidyasubramaniam, vice-chancellor, Sastra Deemed University.
On the attendance policy for pursuing two degrees simultaneously, the UGC chief said it would be decided by the respective universities after due approval by the statutory bodies of the institutes by adopting the scheme. “Unless the statutory bodies have approved these guidelines, universities cannot implement it,” Kumar said.
With regard to the structure of programs and admissions, as per the guidelines, the multiple entry exit reforms introduced by UGC as part of NEP 2020 are applicable to all programmes, whether in physical mode or online mode, Whether it is a single degree or two degrees together. These guidelines will be applicable to simultaneous Diploma, Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes.
On the admission criteria, Kumar said: “If it is admission in one physical mode, then two simultaneous degrees. If the student is willing to go to two different universities, the admission policy will be decided by those respective universities. And if it is an online programme, as in the amended Online Program Rules, we have made it clear that anyone who has passed class XII is eligible to attend the online programmes.