In a bid to bring the Indian education system on a par with international standards, pursuing more than one degree at a time will soon be possible here too. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has constituted an expert committee to look into the plan.

The two degrees can be from one university or different universities and can be full-time or part-time. The committee has forwarded its recommendations to vice-chancellors of different universities for their comments.

R Manoj Kumar, education officer, UGC, said, “A student pursuing a degree programme under the regular mode may be allowed to pursue a maximum of one certificate/diploma/advanced diploma/PG diploma programme simultaneously either in regular or open and distance mode in the same university or from others. But two degree programmes under regular mode may not be allowed simultaneously as it may create logistic, administrative and academic problems.”

These recommendations have been forwarded to different vice-chancellors after a meeting held in December.

Rajan Welukar, vice-chancellor, Mumbai university, welcomed the move. He said, “It will give students the required freedom of choice to pursue more courses which, in turn, will better the quality of graduates.”

Commenting on how feasible such a process will be, Welukar said, “The recently-implemented credit system is meant for such academic freedom for students. They can choose courses or subjects as per their liking. Initially, till the system evolves to accommodate these new conditions, there might be some administrative issues. But those can be worked on.”

The committee also discussed the issue of awarding joint degrees by universities within India. It concluded that nothing prohibits universities from letting their students take and complete a part of their programme of studies from other recognised universities. Such practices should be encouraged and interested universities may make necessary enabling ordinances specifying details and procedures in this regard, as UGC permits it.