New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released brief guidelines on pursuing two degree courses simultaneously in one academic year.
A couple of days back, the UGC Chairman announced that the students will have the option of pursuing two full-time regular degree courses simultaneously, which was restricted earlier.
According to the UGC guidelines, a student will be able to pursue two full-time academic degree courses in the physical mode provided that in such cases, the class timings for one course do not overlap with the class timings of the other course.
With the rapid increase in demand for higher education and limited availability of seats in regular stream, several Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have started a number of academic degree courses in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode to meet the increasing aspirations of the students.
This is the reason for the emergence of online education programmes, where a student can pursue the courses within their convenience and comforts of their home. Hence, UGC has also allowed universities to offer online courses in collaboration with Edtech firms.
Keeping in mind the proposals envisaged in the NEP 2020 which emphasises the requirement to facilitate multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non-formal education modes, the commission verified the issue of permitting the students to pursue two degree courses simultaneously.
UGC Guidelines on Two Degree Courses
As per the new UGC guidelines, a student can pursue two degree courses, one in full-time physical mode and another in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) / Online mode; or up to two ODL/Online programmes simultaneously.
- Students can pursue a degree or diploma programme under the ODL or Online mode with only such HEIs which are recognized by UGC/ Statutory Council/ Govt. of India for functioning these academic programmes.
- The degree or diploma programmes under these guidelines will be governed by the Regulations notified by UGC and also the respective statutory/ professional councils, wherever applicable.
- The above-mentioned guidelines are specified only to students pursuing academic programmes other than PhD programmes.
- The universities can also devise mechanisms, through their statutory bodies, for permitting their students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously as mentioned above based on the guidelines.
- These guidelines will come into effect from the date of their notification by the UGC.
- Students who have already done two academic programmes simultaneously cannot claim any retrospective benefit prior to the notification of these guidelines.
The UGC has prepared the guidelines in accordance with the National Education Policy - NEP 2020, which reveals that the teaching pedagogy must evolve in such a way making education more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, and enjoyable.
The NEP 2020 envisions imaginative and flexible curricular structures to enable creative combinations of specialisations for study, that would offer multiple entry and exit points, hence, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning and centrally involving critical and interdisciplinary thinking.
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