UGC likely to make big announcement for degree students

Bhubaneswar: Good news for students. The University Grants Commission (UGC) may allow students to pursue multiple degrees simultaneously from different universities or the same university.

As per sources, UGC has set up a panel headed by its vice chairman Bhushan Patwardhan. The panel has been constituted to examine the issue of pursuing two degree programmes simultaneously from the same university or different universities either through distance mode, online mode or part time mode.

“The panel was set up late last month and has already met once. Now consultations are being held with different stakeholders to explore the feasibility of the idea,” a senior UGC official told PTI.

This is not the first time the commission is examining the issue. The UGC had set up a committee in 2012 as well and consultations were held on the same but ultimately the idea was junked.

The 2012 committee headed by then Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University, Furqan Qamar, had recommended that a student enrolled in a degree programme under regular mode may be allowed to pursue a maximum of one additional degree programme simultaneously under open or distance mode from the same or a different university.

(With PTI inputs)