The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which has been implemented by hundreds of colleges in different phases with Karnataka being the first state allows students to opt for a three-year undergraduate degree or a four–year honours degree. While there is still an ongoing battle between experts on how relevant the new education system would be, The Statesman asked a bachelor’s student, a PhD student, and a professor about their thoughts on UGC’s announcement that four–year UG degree graduates will be able to sit for the NET exams, and this is what they had to say-

What are your thoughts on the new guidelines released by UGC?

As I continue my B. Sc., before I would have had to go on to complete my M.Sc. then only would I have been eligible to sit for the NET exams. But now, if I maintain the 75 percent requirement each year throughout the course and hopefully qualify for the NET exams, I can right away begin to pursue my PhD and save time while getting into research for the field of my interest. I think this is a great opportunity to get there as soon as possible thus saving time.

I see how the thought of finishing your bachelor’s and then continuing to your master’s and then being able to do your PhD can be tedious, but I feel with this option many more people might consider this opportunity presented.

-Riya Jaiswal, botany major student from JDC

Do you think this decision can prove helpful to the students who bear the potential to pursue a PhD and manage to maintain the given score and qualify for the NET exams?

As per the national education policy, this decision is good. PhD is a tough degree, so the cutoff kept for pursuing a PhD directly is also good. However, issues will still arise among students. They will be more driven towards a PhD than any other degree like B Ed, etc. which could lead to tough competition. This decision also saves one year that would otherwise be invested in pursuing a master’s degree. From graduation to PhD, it generally takes 10 years for a science student to get there.

-Zeba Anjum, research scholar, PhD in zoology from Patna University

What were your initial thoughts on hearing the announcement?

I thought it was a very good initiative. There is a cut-off of 75 per cent. The four–year course in itself is quite a demanding course and you are allowed to have quite an in-depth knowledge of the subject. If you can score a percentage of 75 per cent in the four–year course, then it’s quite good and you are quite eligible to appear for the NET exam. In our time much of the topics that were included in the MSc syllabus are now included under the four–year UG syllabus. If a student has a thorough grasp of the subjects, then I think they are very much eligible to sit for the NET exam and pursue the PhD because they have the creative ability and the critical thinking that is necessary to pursue it. I think some of the students can benefit from that.

How different could it be from maybe, completing post-graduation first and then going for PhD?

It depends on the student. If you have a special interest in one of the subjects and you want to delve deeper into it or want to go to an advanced level then it’s good to go for a post-graduation in that subject where you get a more in-depth knowledge and you are exposed to more advanced frontier areas of research into that subject. And then you sit for NET and go for research. Or maybe, a student is good but he/ she could not score 75 per cent as per the requisite, then they can study for a further year in PG and then sit for the NET exam.

For the students that will go from undergraduate to straightaway PhD, they might be more inclined to interdisciplinary research which is quite popular these days.

-N. Bhattacharjee, assistant professor, chemistry department of JDC.