According to the revised guidelines, students will now also get a choice between single major and double major and interdisciplinary choices of subjects.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) Monday released the curriculum and credit framework for undergraduate programmes. The new guidelines have been released by reworking the existing Choice Based Credit System.
Under this programme, students will get multiple options for entry and exit. According to the revised guidelines, students will now also get a choice between single major and double major and interdisciplinary choices of subjects.
Currently, students get an honours degree after three years of college studies. However, now, students will get options of pursuing two types of honours degree — honours and honours with research. The four-year UG Honours degree in the major discipline will be awarded to those who complete a four-year degree programme with 160 credits and have satisfied the credit requirement. However, the students who secure 75 per cent marks and above in the first six semesters but wish to undertake research at the undergraduate level will be allowed to choose a research stream in the fourth year.
“They should do a research project or dissertation under the guidance of a faculty member of the university or college. The research project and dissertation will be in the major discipline. The students who secure 160 credits, including 12 credits from a research project and dissertation, will be awarded UG degree (honours with research),” the notification explained.
The revised guidelines will also provide students the opportunity to explore several entry and exit options. As per the revised guidelines, students who opt to exit after completion of the first year and have secured 40 credits will be awarded a UG certificate if, in addition, they complete one vocational course of four credits during the summer vacation of the first year. Also, these students will be allowed to re-enter the degree programme within three years and complete the degree programme within the stipulated maximum period of seven years.
Similarly, students who opt to exit after completion of the second year and have secured 80 credits will be awarded the UG diploma if, in addition, they complete one vocational course of four credits during the summer vacation of the second year. They will be allowed to re-enter within a period of three years and complete the degree programme within the maximum period of seven years.
The students who are pursuing multidisciplinary degrees, their credits of core courses will be distributed among broad disciplines. “For example, a student who opts for a UG program in life sciences will have the total credits to core courses distributed across botany, zoology and human biology disciplines. The degree will be awarded as BSc in Life Sciences for a 3-year programme and BSc (Honours) in Life Sciences or BSc (Honours with Research) for a 4-year programme without or with a research component respectively,” the official notification stated.
