UGC has revised the curriculum for students of Undergraduate courses. The UGC has made a framework for a four-year year undergraduate program in contrast to the three-year degree which was followed to date. This revised plan will be implemented from the next academic session which is 2023-2024. According to the University Grants Commission, enabling this revised plan for students will save their time and can directly apply for a Ph.D. degree after completing their four-year undergraduate course.
As per the earlier academic sessions, students had to complete their PG(Masters) after doing a three-year year bachelor's course and after that only they could apply for Ph.D. in the desired universities.
"This decision by UGC would reduce the number of years spent in the higher education ecosystem. The minimum period for completing a Ph.D. degree has also been reduced from three-to-six years. However, the maximum years for completing a Ph.D. remains unchanged at six years ', said RP Tiwari, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Punjab.
The students enrolled in this four-year undergraduate program will be awarded a certificate after completing 1 year (2 semesters) of study in the chosen fields of study, a diploma after 2 years (4 semesters) of study, a bachelor’s degree after a 3-year (6 semesters) program of study, a bachelor’s degree with honors or research after a 4-year program.
The program will be divided into eight semesters and students will be required to get 160-170 credits for a 4-year degree. "Each working week will have 40 hours of instructional time. A summer term is for eight weeks, and summer term courses may be offered on a fast track mode to enable students to complete arrears courses, do a 0-99 or 100-199 level courses," said the UGC framework notice released on March 17.
The fourth year of this program will be research-based which will enable students to learn about it and have good exposure in the research field in their UG degree itself.
