Ed Reform Gone Rogue

UGC’s draft curriculum for the 4-year undergrad programme is rife with confusion and contradiction

- Amber Habib

On March 17 of this year, the University Grants Commission released a draft curriculum for a ‘Four-Year Undergraduate Programme’, or FYUGP, a key component of the National Education Policy. The FYUGP is a thorough transformation of the old system, and so it is vital that both academia and the general public take a close look at it and make their thoughts known.

The curriculum demarcates three phases for the students’ progression. The first stage consists of three semesters and is devoted to basic courses labelled as Language, Common, Introductory, and Vocational. In the Introductory portion, the student must take courses from each of the Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities. At the end of this stage, students will be allotted their Major discipline based on their grades (and not their performance in entrance tests or school).

During the second stage, in semesters four through six, students will complete their Major along with a significant portion of two Minors. At the end of the third year, the student can graduate with a plain Bachelor’s degree. Some students can stay for a fourth year, the final stage, and complete a Bachelor’s degree called Honours or Research. These students will be eligible for direct admission to PhD programmes in India.