The University Grants Commission (UGC), on Friday, September 30, asked all universities to make statutory changes to allow students to pursue two academic degrees simultaneously in physical mode. The UGC had, in April, approved the proposal allowing students to pursue two full-time degrees together. The guidelines for the same were notified on September 30, as stated in a report by PTI.
“All the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) were requested to devise mechanisms through their statutory bodies for allowing students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously. It is once again requested that in the larger interest of the students, implementation of the said scheme may kindly be ensured and expedited, if not done so far,” the UGC wrote in a letter to universities.
What do the guidelines say?
As per the UGC guidelines, students can now pursue two full-time academic programmes (offline) provided that in such cases, class timings for one programme do not overlap with the class timings of the other programme. It is, however, not applicable for PhD programmes. “Degree or diploma programmes under Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online mode shall be pursued with only such HEIs that are recognised by the UGC, Statutory Council and Government of India for running such programmes. 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,” the guidelines said.
The UGC also said that the aim of allowing students to pursue two degrees simultaneously is to allow them to focus on one or more specialised areas of interest. “The objective of allowing a student to pursue two degrees simultaneously stems from recognising, identifying and fostering the unique capabilities of each student, no hard separations between Arts and Sciences, between curricular and extracurricular activities, between vocational and academic streams, etc. and enabling an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, ethical and constitutional values…,” the guidelines stated.
The guidelines have come into effect from September 30, 2022, and students can’t claim any retrospective benefit, it said.
