105 universities have started 4-year undergraduate programmes: Govt

NEW DELHI: 105 universities across the country have started four-year undergraduate programmes according to the University Grants Commission (UGC), minister of state for education Subhas Sarkar told the Parliament while answering a question raised by Lok Sabha member Bharti Shiyal.

The Minister said the National Education Policy, NEP 2020 recommends an undergraduate degree with three-four year duration and multiple exit options. The students will also have the option of leaving the programmme at various stages. The student will get a certificate after completing a year in a discipline or field including vocational and professional areas. He or she will get a diploma after two years of study and a bachelor’s degree after completing three-years.

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“The four-year multidisciplinary bachelor's programme will be the preferred option since it allows the opportunity to experience the full range of holistic and multidisciplinary education in addition to a focus on the chosen major and minors (subjects) as per the choices of the student,” he added.

In line with the recommendations, UGC has issued the curriculum and credit framework for undergraduate programmes and asked the higher education institutions to take necessary measures to implement the framework.

When asked whether the four-year programme will help students get admissions abroad, Sarkar said the four-year UG programme will help students to pursue their career path by choosing the subjects or fields of their interest. “Imaginative and flexible curricular structures, as envisioned under the NEP 2020, will enable creative combinations of disciplines for study, and would offer multiple entry and exit points, thus, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning,” he said.

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“The National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF) has been released to ensure international equivalence and comparability (of education standards) nationally and internationally,” Subhas Sarkar added.

Last month, the UGC said 105 universities, including 19 central universities, 40 deemed-to-be universities, 18 state private universities and 22 state universities, will start four-year undergraduate programmes.