Graduates can directly join PhD programmes under new pattern: UGC Chief M Jagadesh Kumar

Kumar also said that three-year UG courses will not be discontinued till the four-year programme is fully implemented and that varsities can choose between the three and four-year programmes

UGC chief M Jagadesh Kumar. Tribune file

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 14

UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said on Wednesday that under the new credit and curriculum pattern, graduates will be able to directly join PhD programmes. “However, if they get less than 75 per cent in a four-year UG, they will have to do a one-year PG to be able to join a PhD,” he added.

Kumar also said that three-year UG courses will not be discontinued till the four-year programme is fully implemented and that varsities can choose between the three and four-year programmes.

“Most of your universities will adopt the four-year UG programme because it already has the three-year UG programme embedded in it and students can continue to get their three-year UG degree if they so wish.

“However, HEIs which do not have sufficient number of faculty members and other research infrastructure will first have to work on improving these before they can adopt four-year UG programmes,” he said

The UGC on Monday announced the new credit and curriculum framework for undergraduate (UG) courses, which defines Honours degree courses as a four-year programme.

On when he expects the FYUP to be fully implemented, Kumar said there was no deadline and the UGC will continue to work with HEIs to implement it as soon as possible. Some universities, like the Delhi University, have already implemented it while others are working on implementing it from the 2023 academic session. “In the coming years, many universities will adopt it, they will need to in order to attract best students to their programmes,” he said

Regarding other benefits of the FYUP, apart from the advantage that students do not have to do a PG degree to join the PhD programme, Kumar said students have multiple choices. They can also take a single or double major to gain a deeper knowledge of a given discipline. Since multidisciplinary courses, ability enhancement courses, skill enhancement courses, value-added courses, and internships are embedded in the FYUP, it will enhance the opportunities for students to take up employment or go for higher studies, he added.

The new CCFUGP provides students with multiple options for entry and exit, a choice between single major and double major and interdisciplinary choices of subjects. Meanwhile, the current three-year UG programmes will continue whether they are called BA, BCom, or BSc or UG degrees with Honours such as BA (Hons), BCom (Hons), or BSc (Hons).