PG Programmes: UGC syncs post graduate, under graduate courses to give students flexibility

NEW DELHI: New post graduate programmes will come in three-formats-one-year, two-year and five-year integrated- with flexibility to move from one discipline of study to another and for students who qualify undergraduate (UG) with a double major to opt for any of the two subjects they have majored in.
In conformity with the restructured undergraduate programmes, the University Grants Commission approved the new “Curriculum and Credit Framework for Postgraduate Programmes” in its November 3 meeting and it would be notified on Saturday.

As per the National Education Policy 2020, the UG degree was restructured to either three or four-year duration with appropriate certifications – UG certificate after one year in a discipline or field including vocational and professional areas, or a UG diploma after two years of study, or a bachelor’s degree after a three-year course. The four-year bachelor’s programme, however, is the preferred option as it allows a whole range of multidisciplinary education in addition to a focus on the chosen major and minors.

Syncing the PG programme with the restructured UG, apart from the flexibility to shift from one discipline to another, as per the new curriculum, also gives an opportunity to learners to choose the courses of their interest and to switch to alternative modes of learning (offline, ODL, online learning, and hybrid modes).
The new credit framework has also specified the minimum credit to be earned at the UG level as eligibility for different format of PG degrees. Under the National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF), higher education qualifications are classified along a continuum of levels from level 4.5 to level 8. For example, for a 1-year/2-semester master’s programme the requirement is a bachelor’s degree with honours/ honours with research with a minimum of 160 credits at level 6.5 on the NHEQF, and for a two-year/four-semester master’s programme the requirement is a minimum of 120 credits at level 6.5 on the NHEQF.

Moreover, irrespective of the major or minor disciplines chosen by a student in a UG programme, a student is eligible for admission in any discipline of master’s programmes if the student qualifies the national level or university level entrance examination in the discipline of the master’s programme.
The document also speaks about universities offering master’s programmes in core areas such as Machine Learning as well as multidisciplinary fields “AI + X” and professional areas like health care, agriculture, and law. It stated that the PG framework should be in sync with National Credit Framework (NCrF) for the creditization of all learning and assignment, accumulation, storage, transfer and redemption of credits, subject to assessment.
And finally, the framework also states that the new structure provides students with facility to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously – two full-time academic programmes in the physical mode provided that there is no overlap of class timings between the two programmes or two academic programmes; one in full-time physical mode and another in ODL/ Online mode; or up to two ODL/ Online programmes simultaneously.