UGC

"The UGC has approved that an extension of up to six months beyond June 30 may be given to M.Phil and Ph.D. students for thesis submission by their respective higher education institutions on a case-to-case basis based on the review of the student's work by the Research Advisory Committee and on the recommendation of the supervisor and head of the department," ET quoyed a UGC official as saying.

“The main objective of these guidelines is to promote physical fitness and sports activities among students, inculcate a positive attitude and develop a supportive network of students. These are essential to strengthen the mental well-being of students to safeguard themselves against different kinds of stress, pressure, and behavior issues they face", said UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that students are sufficiently aware while making these choices. As regulators, we are concerned about our students and want to ensure they don’t face any difficulties,” he said, citing the examples of Indian students who were pursuing medicine in countries such as Ukraine and China, said UGC chairperson Prof M Jagadesh Kumar.

"All concerned are advised not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing higher education. Any Indian national or Overseas Citizen of India who intends to take admissions to any degree college or educational institution of Pakistan shall not be eligible for seeking employment or higher studies in India on the basis of such educational qualifications (in any subject) acquired in Pakistan," the advisory read.  

“As announced in the NEP 2020 and in order to allow students to acquire multiple skills, UGC is coming up with new guidelines to allow a candidate to pursue two-degree programmes in physical mode simultaneously. The degrees can either be pursued from the same or different universities,” said M Jagadish Kumar, chairperson, UGC on Tuesday.  

"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 Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission in Undergraduate programs from the academic session 2022-2023 in all UGC funded Central Universities will be conducted in 13 languages namely Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Punjabi, Odia and English by the National Testing Agency (NTA),” a public notice by UGC said.

For admission to Delhi University, however, a separate 'Central University Entrance Exam Test' will be conducted. Under the present system, most of the varsities prepare the merit list on the basis of marks scored in Class 12. The students have to fill admission forms for different universities on different dates. When the students do not get admission in their desired colleges, they turn to colleges where seats are vacant. As per UGC, admission in the central universities for the year 2022-2023 will be held through CET, which will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

This time, the examinations for December 2020 and June 2021 semester will be held jointly. The NTA will soon release the admit cards. Candidates appearing for the examination will be given an option to download the admit cards from UGC's official website. The NTA has also issued helpline number 011-40759000 to facilitate the aspirants. NTA Senior Director Sadhna Parashar said a new schedule has been released for the exams.

Under this, seven national educational institutions including CBSE, NCERT, UGC, AICTE and higher education departments will launch a joint campaign. Through this initiative, skill and employable education will be promoted in school and college education. Language learning will also be seen as skill development of the students.