One programme can be in full time physical mode and another in Open and Distance Learning or Online mode, UGC said

NEW DELHI, Apr 14 (The CONNECT) - In line with the National Education Policy (NEP), the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines to enable students to simultaneously pursue two full time academic programmes, other than Ph D.

The National Education Policy - NEP 2020 states that pedagogy must evolve to make education more experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible, and, of course, enjoyable.

“A student can pursue two full time academic programmes in physical mode provided that in such cases, class timings for one programme do not overlap with the class timings of the other programme,” UGC said in its guidelines uploaded on its web site yesterday.

One programme can be in full time physical mode and another in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) or Online mode.

Ruchir Arora, Co-Founder & CEO, CollegeDekho described the policy as forward-thinking and is in line with the demands of the current world. “This will aid the students to keep their career options open and success in their professional life will not be dependent on their performance in a single course,” Arora said.

Most students are ushered towards professional courses which can fetch them better-paying jobs later but now these students also have an option to pursue another degree of their choice that can act as a safety net, Arora said.

The guidelines can be seen here.

UGC said degree or diploma programmes under ODL/Online mode shall be pursued with only such HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) which are recognized by UGC or Statutory Council or the Union Government.

Degree or diploma programmes under these guidelines shall be governed by the regulations notified by the UGC and also the respective statutory/professional councils, wherever applicable.

These guidelines shall come into effect from the date of their notification by the UGC. No retrospective benefit can be claimed by the students who have already done two academic programmes simultaneously prior to the notification of these guidelines.

The guidelines shall be applicable only to the students pursuing academic programmes other than Ph.D. programme. Based on the above guidelines, the universities can devise mechanisms, through their statutory bodies, for allowing their students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously as mentioned above.

The policy envisions imaginative and flexible curricular structures to enable creative combinations of disciplines for study, that would offer multiple entry and exit points, thus, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning and centrally involve critical and interdisciplinary thinking.