Four-Year Undergraduate Courses Likely to Make a Comeback
The committee that is drafting National Education Policy (NEP) is set to make a recommendation to MHRD on four-year UG courses.
According to sources, the committee that is assigned the responsibility of drafting New Education Policy (NEP) is expected to include its recommendation to implement four-year undergraduate courses. The committee is expected to submit its report to the HRD Ministry. Senior officials of HRD Ministry discussed the proposal to introduce four-yearUG courses in a meeting that took place recently.
As per the sources, the committee of NEP has carried out a detailed study on the proposal and reached a consensus. The committee is in favour of four-year UG courses and the same will have to get the approval from the MHRD.
At present, engineering students spend four years to complete their graduation. The four-year duration of the engineering course gives enough time to complete project work and undergo mandatory internships or training. As per the committee’s observation, the four-year UG courses in universities and colleges will enable overall growth of the students.
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Some experts were of the opinion that the four-year UG courses will be applicable only for the new entrants and it will not be applicable to those already enrolled in three-year UG course. The overall development of students, understanding real-life situations, involvement in project works and internships will be possible through four-year UG courses.
In all, there is curiosity surrounding the introduction of four-year UG courses. We are yet to see whether the government will go ahead with the recommendation or keep it on hold temporarily.
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In 2013, the University of Delhi had experimented introducing four-year UG courses. However, the plan provided to be controversial. A section of students and teachers had protested demanding the varsity to bring back three-year duration UG courses. Finally, the varsity discontinued four-year duration UG courses considering the demand of students and teachers.