UGC Considers Allowing Multiple Degrees At The Same Time; 75 Engineering Colleges Will Close Down!

Ever thought of doing economic while pursuing your B.Tech degree? Or maybe you’re interested in English a little too much but already in committed relations with architecture in B.Arch? We bring to you a very bright news, if that’s the case with you.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to study the feasibility of the idea that a student could pursue multiple degrees either from the same university or a different one.

Almost simultaneously, more than 75 engineering and technical colleges throughout the country have decided to voluntarily shut down, which means they’ll not enroll student further from this academic session, for various reasons. Most of these colleges are in Uttar Pradesh.

Possibility of 2 Degrees Simultaneously?

In 2012, the UGC committee headed by the then Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University had recommended that a student enrolled in a university for a particular degree course could take up a maximum of one other certificate, diploma, advanced diploma, or PG diploma course simultaneously, either in the same university or a different one.

The committee sat over the discussion of this idea and finally concluded that such an idea could create logistic, administrative and academic problems. Due to not much officials of the committee endorsing this idea, it junked off.

Now, the idea has resurfaced and is being held under considerations. The UGC has set up a panel, heading its VC Bhusan Patwardhan to examine this issue, in addition with the idea that the student can do this through distance mode, online mode or part-time mode.  The panel has already met last month and is closely considering the feasibility.

It has now been decided to revisit the idea because technology has brought in lot of changes. There are vast majority of people who want to pursue specialized courses besides their regular degree programmes. We shall keep you updated as and when the results are out.

Over 75 Technical Colleges Shutting Down

This is catastrophic. There could be a possibility that in another 2-3 years, the engineering college you graduated from could no more be standing. Over 75 technical colleges have announced to not take any more students from this academic year, most of them being in Uttar Pradesh.

Colleges have stated the reason for this to be lesser students enrolling each year for such colleges and their courses, along with shortage of funds. Up till now, 78 colleges have registered for ‘progressive closure’ this year. Last year, 54 colleges had shut down, while in the academic session of 2017-18, the number was as high as 106 colleges.

Such colleges stop admitting new students and function only till the time the current students graduate. Among the colleges that will shut down this academic year, 31 are based in Uttar Pradesh, while 6 of them are from Punjab. 5 are in Chhattisgarh and Haryana, while 4 each in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. 2 colleges each count up in Rajasthan, Telangana, Odisha and Maharashtra.

According to the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) stats, about 264 engineering colleges in the country are without approval from the council, while 116 architecture colleges function in a similar manner.