UGC allows students to pursue two full-time academic programmes simultaneously
As per the newly released UGC guideline, students will now be able to pursue 2 full-time academic Programs at a time. The guideline will be applicable to all the academic programs available throughout the country.
In this newly released guideline by UGC, students are given the freedom to choose whatever courses they are willing to pursue. Students can either choose a diploma program and an undergraduate program, two master’s programs, or two undergraduate programs.
Previously, the University Grants Commission (UGC) did not give the students of India the permission to pursue two full-time academic courses simultaneously. The students were allowed to pursue one full-time along with online/diploma/short-time courses. But now, according to the announcement by UGC on Tuesday, they are allowed to pursue two full-time academic courses in a single time period, and that too in physical, online, or distance learning mode also, but the class timings for both the programs must not clash.
The UGC said that they will put the same announcement on their official website by 13th April, 2022.
As said by UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh, a meeting was held on 31st March, where the proposal to issue such guidelines that will give the scope to the students to acquire multiple skills and knowledge in different academic zones, was discussed. The main motive behind issuing such guidelines is to provide learning pathways in both formal and non-formal educational forms, which will give the students the freedom to acquire multiple skillsets.
Students can pursue two degree programs at a time in subjects like sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, and a wide variety of disciplines. However, accepting these guidelines is optional for universities. The eligibility criteria for the programs under these guidelines will be the same as before and the admissions will be taken as per the UGC and university rules.
UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh also said that lecture-based courses such as undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma courses will come under these guidelines. But the guidelines will not be applicable for M.Phil and Ph.D. programs.
According to the UGC guidelines, students can not just pursue two full-time programs in physical mode, but also can choose one in physical mode and the other in distance learning mode, or both programs in online mode.
Since every program has got a basic attendance requirement, so for the students pursuing courses under these guidelines, the attendance criteria will be decided by the universities.
Besides, announcing this news, the UGC has also given a hint of publishing modified regulations regarding online education, where many of the top universities will be open to a wide number of students by making quality courses available online.