According to the new education policy that India has been working on, it may soon kick out M.Phil programs from its higher education curriculum. If a student wishes to go for a doctorate, a 4-year bachelor’s degree with research would be enough. The final draft prepared has written it out pretty clearly,
The M.Phil program would be terminated hereafter. A master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree with research would be required to take admission in universities for Ph.D.
The draft of the new education policy is set to be presented soon in the parliament in the winter session.
A new education policy after 27 years
The decision to phase out M.Phil came after the realization that people no longer want to pursue it. M.Phil is usually considered as an advanced master’s course. Changing the policy would encourage the younger generation to pursue research during their graduation. This would directly make them eligible for a Ph.D.
The last education policy came out in 1992. Since then India has been following the same curriculum and pedagogy for the last three decades. With the new education policy coming up, the length of different courses and degrees would also change.
Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), a degree neccessary for becoming a teacher in the country would be extended to a period of 4 years instead of 2 years. All the degrees will be either a 3-year or a 4-year course. However, students would be given proper options to exit the degree during the tenure with proper recognition and certifications.
While it is yet to be seen that research might be made compulsory for students in their fourth year of graduation. Those who are not interested may withdraw after the completion of 3 years and would be provided a bachelor’s degree.
M.Phil enrollments have been steadily going down over the past few years. In the term 2017-18, almost 43,000 students enrolled for the program while this number went down to a little more than 30,000 across the whole country.
It is reported that the idea for a new education policy was first introduced in 2017 and over 115,000 meetings have taken place in this period to come up with a final draft. The draft would be responsible for the future of more than 300 million students in India.
