Tannuka Juneja
University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar has said that students can now pursue two degrees simultaneously in physical mode. These can be full-time degree programmes and would offer more room to students who wish to pursue other courses.
The guidelines will apply to all programmes available across the country. Students can either choose a combination of a diploma programme and an undergraduate (UG) degree, two master’s programmes, or two bachelor’s programmes. If a student is eligible to pursue a postgraduate (PG) degree and wants to enroll in a bachelor’s degree in a different domain, s/he will be able to pursue a UG and PG degree simultaneously. The class timing for both the programmes must not clash.
Furthermore, this dual degree programme policy will be applicable for physical degrees, online degrees and even diploma programmes.
“As announced in the new National Education Policy (NEP) and in order to allow students to acquire multiple skills, the UGC has come up with new guidelines to allow a candidate to pursue two-degree programmes simultaneously. The degrees can either be pursued from the same or different universities,” Kumar said. “The idea is to provide as much flexibility as possible to the students. These guidelines are part of the NEP and are aimed to customise and personalise education, even allowing multidisciplinary education across various domains. It is a great opportunity for students to expand their skills,” he added.
