The statutory body University Grants Commission (UGC) under the Ministry of Education, Government of India, has made some changes to the norms of when an undergraduate degree will be termed as a honours degree.
As per the latest document released in the public domain by UGC on Monday, an undergraduate degree will only have an ‘honours’ status if it is four years in length.
Until now, as per UGC norms, students clearing a three years’ bachelors programme were eligible for a honours degree. This has now been changed to a four-year course.
According to new norms released by the UGC, if a student leaves a Bachelor’s degree programme after a year, they will be awarded with a certificate. For the ones exiting the course after 2 years, a ‘diploma’ status will be eligible for them.
The twist here is that only the ones leaving the Bachelor’s degree after completion of a four-year long course will be eligible for a Bachelor’s degree with honours or research.
These guidelines were mentioned under a UGC document titled, ‘Curriculum and credit framework for four-year undergraduate programmes’.
Many officials from Delhi University voiced against the new update, stating that the norms shall lead to unnecessary pressure on students from marginalised communities and termed it as a ‘dilution’ of degree.
“This is going to be a big dilution of the honours degree. They have already diluted the syllabus of the four-year programme by introducing common papers like environmental studies, yoga, health and wellness in the first year. Now they are doing away with the honours degree as well. It will no longer remain a choice now for students to exit after three years. They will end up completing four years only,” stated Abha Dev Habib, associate professor, Miranda House.
According to a HT report, the UGC responded by saying, “There won’t be any dilution of degree, and it will continue to hold the same importance. In fact, under the new norms, the students can now major in two subjects to enhance their skills and knowledge.”
