Ludhiana academics split over new PhD guidelines

While most of the academicians consider the guideline a boon for the students, a few believed it to be not as beneficial as it seems

The latest guideline from the University Grants Commission (UGC) regarding PhD received mixed reactions from the academicians.

According to the guideline by UGC, the students with four-year undergraduate courses and 75% or above are eligible to directly pursue PhD with or without a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and without a master’s degree. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

According to the guideline by UGC, the students with four-year undergraduate courses and 75% or above are eligible to directly pursue PhD with or without a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and without a master’s degree.

While most of the academicians consider the guideline a boon for the students, a few believed it to be not as beneficial as it seems.

Punjab higher education deputy director Ashwani Bhalla said, “Achieving 75% or above in the undergraduate courses is not an easy task and only the students with high potential would be able to achieve it. If those students are permitted to directly pursue PhD, then they would be able to complete their doctorate degree a year prior.”

He also highlighted the compulsion for universities and colleges to start four-year undergraduate courses after the implementation of the said guideline. “From the next academic session, this would be implemented to save students’ time.”

A Panjab University (PU) professor stressed on the implementation method required to achieve the motive behind this idea. “Everything depends upon how well the programme is designed, curriculum wise. If the institution is taking up all the pre-requisites of letting a student know what research essentials should be, then the student would be competent enough to step into PhD without going through masters degree, but if the requisites are lenient, then the student would find the research extremely difficult without the master’s degree.”

PU senate member Mukesh Arora said, “This is in accordance with the National Education Policy and has surely increased the importance of an undergraduate degree.” In the four-year undergraduate courses, the last two semesters would be dedicated to research to make the students competent enough to directly pursue PhD, he added.

However, a college professor at Nawanshahr said the students in their graduation are not mature enough to decide a subject of research or directly pursue PhD. “Masters is meant to bridge the gap as sometimes the students change their subjects while pursuing masters due to varied interests. Without masters, students would not be able to conduct research with ease, which would eventually not fulfil the purpose behind the said decision.”