UGC Issues Draft Guidelines for Multidisciplinary Education, Seeks Suggestions

The University Grant Commission (UGC) has invited feedback and suggestion from various stakeholders on the draft of guidelines for transforming higher education institutions (HEIs) into multidisciplinary institutions. The step has been taken to have a transparent and participatory approach in framing the guidelines for HEIs under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The NEP 2020 proposes setting up multidisciplinary higher education courses with no hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams. To ensure a smooth transition to the new policy, the UGC has constituted a task force to draft guidelines whose draft is now available for feedback.

Various stakeholders including teachers, students, researchers and those involved in the related field can access the draft online on the UGC website — ugc.ac.in, and their suggestion through a Google form link shared by the UGC, latest by March 20.

Earlier, the UGC had invited suggestions on draft amendments of Open and Distance Learning and online programmes from various stakeholders. The draft was made available on the UGC portal and stakeholders may send their suggestions by March 15. With an aim to increase participation in higher education from even the remote parts of the country, the NEP aims to increase the offering of online undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by universities.