Students across the country will be able to take admission for four-year undergraduate programmes (FYUGP) from the academic year 2022-23 as the University Grants Commission (UGC) has released the FYUGP curriculum draft on March 17 and asked for suggestions to finalise it from stakeholders till April 4. Universities like Savitribai Phule Pune University, JNU and Delhi University are set to introduce the programme from the next academic year. They are now holding seminars and training programmes for the Principals of affiliated colleges to enable them to understand the new FYUGP and its implementation sooner.
The programme is divided into eight semesters; and students will require 160-176 credits for a four-year degree with honours or research with several entry and exit options. Students will be awarded with a certificate after completing 1 year of 2 semesters with 20-22 credits per semester of study in the chosen fields, a diploma after 2 years of 4 semesters of study, a bachelor’s degree after 3 years of 6 semesters programme of study and of a bachelor’s degree with honours or research after 4 years of 8 semester programme. As per the new PhD guidelines released by UGC, students completing four years degree courses with research with a minimum CGPA of 7.5 will be eligible for admission to PhD courses.
The FYUGP aims to equip students to build their capacities in fields across the arts, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, languages, communication skills, soft skills, critical thinking, creative thinking, with specialisation in a chosen discipline or interdisciplinary major and minor. The first 3 Semesters of the he FYUGP seeks to develop an understanding and an appreciation in all major areas of learning such as natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, computational thinking and analysis, creative expressions and vocational education which provide a different perspective on learning. A general understanding of all and in-depth study of at least one area is required for the students.
Choosing the major and minor subjects will start at the end of the third semester. The performance and academic interest will be considered for allocation of the desired subject to a student, who will choose and read a number of papers of major and minor disciplinary or interdisciplinary subjects during the 4th, 5th and 6th semesters. At the beginning of the seventh semester, each student will choose a research project along with advanced disciplinary/interdisciplinary courses and research methodology courses. The eighth semester will be devoted exclusively to the research work. The selected research project should be related to a topic in the chosen ‘Major’ disciplinary programme of study or a related interdisciplinary topic of study.
Students can complete the four-year undergraduate programme in eight semesters. However in special circumstances, a student will be permitted an extension, as the programme allows exit and re-entry options for students. The credit accumulation facility created by the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) scheme can be availed by the student where the validity of credits earned would be seven years. After seven years, re-entry into a programme of study will be considered basing on the validation of prior approved completed courses.
The curricular components of the programme are designed in such a way as to make a student understands all necessary subjects and gains in depth knowledge in his desired subject. During the first three semesters, he will read language education of 12 credits, understanding India 3 credits, 3 credits of environmental science, 4 credits digital and technological solutions, Mathematical and computational thinking and analysis consisting of 4 credits and 2 credits of courses related to health and wellness, yoga and sports and fitness. Besides, a student will pursue courses within disciplinary areas such as Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities of 9 credits each; interdisciplinary learning areas like Gender Studies, International Relations, Political Economy and Development, Sustainable Development and vocational education courses that are required for a broad and well-rounded learning experience.
Each student will be required to opt for a major subject relating to a disciplinary or interdisciplinary area of study pursued during the first three semesters like Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, History, Economics, Philosophy, Social work, etc. Besides, he has to choose two minors relating to a disciplinary or interdisciplinary area of study, including a vocational education programme. The objective of choosing the disciplinary/interdisciplinary major is providing students the opportunity to acquire in-depth and specialised knowledge in one academic or interdisciplinary area of study. The major subject constitutes 48 credits and two minor subjects of 16 credits each including skills based courses of a chosen vocational programme. Apart from this, field based project and skill based learning programme are also included in the course.
In the fourth year, the student will take up a research project along with advanced courses and research methodology. The final semester is exclusively related to research project which is to be submitted at least one week before the commencement of the end semester examination. A 4 credit internship programme with the faculty members is also a must for all the students pursuing 4 years Honours/Research degree programme.
All the courses will be coded on the basis of level difficulty, learning outcome and academic rigor. Pre-requisite courses are coded as 0-99, foundation or introductory courses are coded as 100-199, intermediate courses bear the codes 200-299, higher level courses are coded as 300-399 and advanced courses are given codes between 400 and 499. First year master degree level courses are coded as 500- 599 and second year master degree is given codes between 600 and 699. Subjects bearing codes from 700 to 799 and above are limited to doctoral students.
Blended learning is given due importance as the students are allowed to pursue 40 percent of the credits required in the on line mode platforms like SWAYAM. Besides terminal examinations, the learning outcomes will be assessed on the basis of sessional work like class tests, mid semester, practical assignment reports. seminar presentations, viva voce, project report preparation, etc.
To conclude, universities and colleges are gearing up to introduce the programme in the near future as per the norms of NEP 2020 and the students are to get ready to face the reformed structure of higher education.
(Dr Biswal is Head, Department of Commerce, Nowrangpur College, Nabarangpur. Mob: 9437125286. bhaskarnathbiswal@gmail.com)
