UGC to make four-year UG courses must for honours degrees

Abhijit Chaliha, Guwahati: Students looking to earn an honours degree in undergraduate courses will have to pursue four-year programmes under new regulations likely to be announced by the University Grants Commission on Monday, PTI reported. “Students will be able to get a UG [undergraduate] degree in three years on completion of 120 credits (measured through the number of academic hours) and a UG honours degree in four years on completion of 160 credits,” the news agency quoted from the draft Curriculum and Credit Framework of the University Grants Commission. Students who have already enrolled in three-year undergraduate courses, will be eligible to pursue a four-year programme. “The university may provide bridge courses (including online) to enable them to transition to the extended programme,” the draft University Grants Commission curriculum framework noted. The four-year programmes will also allow students to exit the course before three years and rejoin later. They will have the option to rejoin within three years of exiting the course, and will have to complete their degree within a stipulated period of seven years, PTI reported. Under its new Curriculum and Credit Framework, the University Grants Commission is looking to implement recommendations of the National Education Policy, 2020. The new framework looks to make higher education multidisciplinary by prescribing courses on “understanding India”, modern Indian languages and yoga, PTI reported.