A student may be considered for the award of a qualification such as a certificate, diploma or degree once the required number of credits in their Academic Bank of Credit account have been earned, irrespective of the minimum duration of the programme, an University Grants Commission (UGC) committee has recommended.
The expert committee, set up to review changes required in the awarding of degrees in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, has proposed several reforms including new degree nomenclature(s).
As per the recommendations, UGC may soon come up with a new range of degree nomenclature(s) which will include Bachelor of Science (BSc) in disciplines such as arts, humanities, management and commerce. “The degree nomenclature may be modified to be in sync with international norms. Accordingly, in case of specialisation or a major subject at the undergraduate (UG) level, the programme nomenclature on the degree certificate awarded to the students may also be written as “Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Science in specialisation,” the committee said.
This nomenclature shall apply to all disciplines at both UG and postgraduate (PG) levels like Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Management, Commerce, among others. If need felt to introduce new nomenclature(s) at any level relevant to contemporary and emerging societal needs, a proposal for the same, along with justification, shall be submitted to the UGC. The Standing Committee constituted for the purpose shall consider the same and make recommendations to the Commission.
Furthermore, universities will be free to offer interdisciplinary and innovative specialisation in these programmes, the committee has said. If the undergraduate degree programme is of three years duration, it may be referred to as BA / BCom / BSc. The existing three years undergraduate degree Honours programmes may also continue.