Over the last one month, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued three key regulations and notifications to enable Indian higher education institutions to gear up for internationalisation  and provide high standards and high-quality learning experience to both domestic and international students.  These include changes in eligibility requirements for doing a PhD programme, curricular framework and credit system for the new four-year undergraduate programme and urging institutions interested in enrolling international students to register on a common designated portal.

1) The draft UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2022 is under consultation and will supersede the earlier regulation and amendments.  It is introducing a mandatory entrance exam from 2022-23 to join a PhD programme.  In terms of eligibility requirement for students who have studied abroad includes that they should have done an equivalent degree from a foreign educational institution to a 1-year/2-semester Master's degree programme (after a four year undergraduate degree) with at least 55% marks.  The foreign educational institute should be accredited by an Assessment and Accreditation Agency which is approved, authorized and incorporated under a law in its home country or any other statutory authority in that country to assess, accredit or assure quality and standards of educational institutions.

It should be noted that the MPhil degree shall be de-specified from the academic year 2022-23 onwards, however MPhil degrees awarded till the date of notification of these regulations shall remain valid. Hence, for admission to PhD programme in the coming academic year, students will be eligible if they have cleared the MPhil course work with at least 55% marks in aggregate or who have an equivalent degree from a foreign Institution be accredited by an Assessment and Accreditation Agency which is approved, authorized and incorporated under a law in its home country or any other statutory authority in that country to assess, accredit or assure quality and standards of educational institutions.

The minimum duration for completion of PhD has been revised from three years to two years while the maximum duration remained unchanged at six years.

2) Four-year undergraduate programmes (FYUGP) will start from academic year 2022-23.  As of now, only a few leading universities like Savitribai Phule Pune University, Jawaharlal Nehru University  and Delhi University have decided to adopt the new programme. 

The purpose of the FYUGP is 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 programme will be divided into eight semesters. After completion of first year (2 semesters) student will be awarded with a certificate, after second year (4 semesters) a diploma will be awarded, a bachelor’s degree will be provided after the completion of 3 years (6 semesters) and of a bachelor’s degree with honours or research after 4 years of 8 semester programmes. A student can choose major and minor subjects at the end of 3rd semester. 

Blended learning option will be available for students to earn credits with up to 40 per cent of the total credits allowed through this mode.  It could include completion of quality-assured remote learning modes and online programmes offered on the Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) or other online educational platform approved by the competent body.

3) UGC has asked Indian HEIs that are admitting or interested to admit international students to update relevant details on the common portal (EducationlNdia )at the earliest.  It is being done in a phased manner, with registration open to institutions which as per the government’ official data has admitted international students, and subsequently, it will be opened to other institutions who desire to register and are otherwise eligible to admit foreign students.

The portal has been designed to showcase the strengths of Indian establishments to overseas students and the aim is to host information regarding all the Indian HEIs so that it is available at one place.

British Council comments:

With the new UGC Vice Chairman Prof Jagadesh Kumar in post from February 2022, a lot of movement and drive has been infused as can be seen with a series of new guidance or modifications to regulations being released by the UGC to facilitate implementation of the national education policy 2020 objectives.  All the above-mentioned changes are towards providing high quality education, preparing students to meet the 21st century requirements and develop India as a world leader in education.

On the back of the establishment of the ABC framework for enabling entry and exit option and flexibility for students to tailor their learning needs in the way they wish to learn, the four-year  under graduation programme will further reinforce that flexibility.  This also means that the Indian HEIs will be more ready to offer international standards and improved quality of education promoting better mobility for national and international students. These developments are not likely to impact the outflow of Indian students to overseas countries immediately or in the short term as such since changes takes time to be embed and only a handful of universities have yet agreed to adopt the FYUGP.  It is expected that more international partnerships will be sought by the Indian HEIs to augment their capacities in different aspects such as curriculum development, exchange programmes and other academic collaborations.

Regarding the eligibility stipulations for PhD programme in India for students who have done under graduation or master’s programme abroad requires further clarity as every foreign institution is not likely to have a four-year undergraduate programme.  Much will be dependent on further guidance on equivalence and mutual recognition of qualifications which is under way.

If you have any question, please contact Sandeepa Sahay

Read more:

https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/8126011_Draft--curriculum-framework-credit-struture-FYUGP.pdf

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/state-editions/four-year-degree-courses-coming-soon.html

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/mar/18/credit-transfer-multiple-exit-entry-options-a-look-at-ugcs-plan-for-four-year-undergraduate-progr-2431543.html

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/fouryear-undergraduate-programmes-to-start-at-sppu-from-academic-year-202223-101647625184515.html

https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/3384636_Letter-Education-India-Portal-AICTE.pdf

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/apr/07/join-education-india-portal-to-draw-foreign-students-university-grants-commission-to-colleges-2438935.html

https://www.reportwire.in/join-education-india-portal-to-draw-foreign-students-university-grants-commission-to-colleges/