JNU approves exit option for dual degree course

New Delhi: The dual-degree programme in the School of Engineering includes an exit option for students admitted starting with the 2018-2019 batch, and this option has been approved by the Academic Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The major academic body of the institution, the JNU Academic Council, which held its 160th meeting, made the decision.

In a notification dated July 1, Deputy Registrar (Evaluations) Manoj Kumar Manuj noted that the students who have successfully completed their BTech degree can avail the exit option. "Acting in the spirit of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Academic Council in its 160(A) meeting held on 01.06.2022, vide item No.3(xii), has approved to offer the exit option to the students of dual degree (four-year B.Tech and one-year M.Tech/MS) programme in the School of Engineering admitted from 2018-2019 batch onward," the notification read.

The 34-year-old National Policy on Education, created in 1986, was superseded by the NEP, which was authorised by the Union Cabinet. Its goal is to lay the groundwork for radical changes in the K–12 and higher education sectors that would turn India into a superpower in knowledge.

Among the higher education reforms outlined in the NEP are the option between three- and four-year undergraduate programmes, multiple entry and exit options in degree programmes, the addition of 3.5 crore seats in institutions of higher learning, which will now have a single regulator, the discontinuation of MPhil programmes, and fee fixation.