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‘Honours’ degree only after 4 years in new UGC norms
According to the UGC document is titled “Curriculum and credit framework for four-year undergraduate programmes”, seen by HT, students will be awarded academic recognition based on the number of years they complete in a course.
Students will now get an undergraduate honours degree only after completing a four-year course, according to new norms prepared by the University Grants Commission (UGC), laying out a graded exit plan for undergraduate students, that are set to be released next week.
The move was criticised by teachers and officials at the Delhi University (DU), who maintained that they will continue offering honours degrees after students complete a three-year undergraduate programme as before.
According to the UGC document is titled “Curriculum and credit framework for four-year undergraduate programmes”, seen by HT, students will be awarded academic recognition based on the number of years they complete in a course.
If they exit after a year, they will be given a certificate. Those leaving after two years will be eligible for a diploma, and those after three, a Bachelor’s degree. It is only after the complete four years that students will be eligible for a Bachelor’s degree with honours or research, the document said.
Each year is divided into two semesters.
At present, students get an honours degree after completing three years of undergraduate programmes.
Under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, universities and colleges will offer four-year undergraduate degrees with multiple exit and entry options. Several universities, including DU, and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), have already adopted the programme.
A senior UGC official, requesting anonymity, said, “There will be only one honours degree, that is four-year UG with honours or honours with research. The regulations will be applicable for students who will be enrolled under the new norms from this year onwards.”
The document will be released in public domain on Monday, the official added.
The UGC document, however, doesn’t match with the DU’s undergraduate curriculum framework released earlier this year. As per DU’s document, students will secure a Bachelor’s degree with honours if they exit at the end of the third year.
DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said that the university has already enrolled students on the basis of its existing guidelines. “The Delhi University regulations have been approved by our statutory bodies and we will continue with that. We will give an honours degree after three years as we have been doing since 1980. We have no plan of doing away with honours degree after three years,” he said.
The Delhi University was the site of months-long protests in 2014 when it first planned to introduce a four-year undergraduate programme. The protests eventually forced the Union government to roll back the decision.
Members of the teaching fraternity also raised concerns over the UGC’s new norms and termed it as “dilution” of the degree and alleged that it creates unnecessary pressure on students from marginalised communities.
Abha Dev Habib, associate professor, Miranda House, said: “This is going to be a big dilution of the honours degree. They have already diluted the syllabus of the four-year programme by introducing common papers like environmental studies, yoga, health and wellness in the first year. Now they are doing away with the honours degree as well. It will no longer remain a choice now for students to exit after three years. They will end up completing four years only.”
Seema Das, a member of DU’s executive council (EC) and a professor of political science at Hindu College, said that it will increase financial burden on students and infrastructural burden for universities. “Who will exit the programme after three years without taking an honours degree which is considered prestigious worldwide? They will end up paying more to stay for another year. Besides, colleges will also have to massively increase their infrastructure. Therefore, DU should not succumb and continue with its existing guidelines.”
Meanwhile, the UGC official quoted above, said, “There won’t be any dilution of degree, and it will continue to hold the same importance. In fact, under the new norms, the students can now major in two subjects to enhance their skills and knowledge.”
