The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday issued new guidelines to allow students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously at higher education institutes recognised by it or statutory councils or the Government of India.
According to the UGC notification, the guidelines come into effect from Wednesday based on which universities can now devise mechanisms through their statutory bodies to allow students to opt for two courses simultaneously.
The UGC says students can't claim retrospective benefit. The guidelines will be applicable for academic programmes other than Ph.D.
In a letter to the Vice–Chancellors and principals of colleges and higher education institutes, Secretary, UGC, Rajnish Jain said the move was in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, “which emphasises on the need to facilitate multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non–formal education”.
Explaining the rationale for the UGC’s decision he wrote, “With the rapid increase in demand for higher education and limited availability of seats in regular stream, several higher education institutes have started a number of programmes in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) to meet the aspirations of students. It has also led to the emergence of online education programmes.”
The move has evoked mixed response.
“This decision will increase the load on universities. It doesn’t increase the number of students enrolling in universities because the same student will study two courses. So, the gross enrolment ratio [GER] in higher education doesn’t go up. The move will also lead to a demand for more teachers when thousands of vacancies for current needs haven’t been filled. We are already stretched,” said a former UGC Chairman who didn’t want to be identified.
The GER for higher education is at 27.1% according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20. The NEP has set the target of raising this to 50% by 2035.
Former Delhi University (DU) Vice–Chancellor Dinesh Singh welcomed the move, which the DU had already implemented during his tenure.
“Admission to one course doesn’t preclude your capability to pursue another course. If a student is not capable, then they will not succeed. But if they are capable, let them take it. I think this decision was long overdue. Before my time at DU, students pursuing a second course on the sly would be penalised. Why penalise a student who is only looking to enhance his or her skills. This is why we decided to allow students to pursue more than one course.”
