Who is competent to give approvals for credits in interdisciplinary areas of law?

Hyderabad: The University Grants Commission’s (UGCs) newly proposed “Draft Guidelines for Introduction of Skill based courses and Micro Credit Courses in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and the Standards Operative Procedures (SOPs)” is leaving many in the legal education teaching and research high and dry.

The reason being, the objectives of the new guidelines give a wide scope for the students of the undergraduate and postgraduate courses to acquire practical skills and even on-the-job training to equip themselves.

As per the new guidelines, all students enrolled in a programme at any HEI are eligible to undertake skill-based courses or micro-credentials. “These courses can be pursued as domain-specific credits, cross-domain credits, or employability enhancement courses from a wide range of disciplines offered by the HEI”, the UGC said.

The apex higher education regulator comes up with a liberal plan that allows a maximum credit accumulation through skill-based courses or micro-credentials which shall not exceed 50 per cent of the total credits required for the award of a degree at general universities. However, in skill universities, this limit is set at 60 per cent, and in exceptional cases, it may extend up to 70 per cent for specialised skill programmes.

The way a student could pursue a skill-based course or qualification allows different ways of gaining skills. They include: 1. Lectures/Theory/Assignments 2. Practical/Hands-on Skill Training/Skilling 3. Internship/Project Work 4. Apprenticeship/Shop-floor Training 5. On-the-Job Training (OJT) 6. Mandatory Assessments 7. Credit Assignment and Transfer to Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). These components, the UGC said ensure a comprehensive approach to skill development in higher education.

Further, these guidelines apply to “all universities established or incorporated under Central or State Acts, as well as to every institution or affiliated college with the permission of the affiliating university or an autonomous college recognised by the UGC under Clause (f) of Section 2 of the UGC Act, 1956. This also includes institutions deemed to be universities under Section 3 of the Act”. However, the new regulations say that for programmes that fall under “the jurisdiction of other regulatory councils or authorities (besides the UGC), the introduction of skill-based courses and micro-credentials requires prior approval from the relevant statutory or regulatory bodies”.

Take, for example, a student of Bachelor of Arts wish to earn a credit in the area of Philosophy of Law. Or, an LLB student wants to earn a credit in the area of agriculture, aviation, maritime and other specialised fields. Should the HEI need to get permission from the Bar Council of India (BCI)? Because, the subject areas interacting with the field of law fall under the humanities, social sciences, physical and life sciences, and in some cases even management sciences.

Speaking to Hans India, a senior faculty member of law from Andhra University said, “That simply takes away the freedom of the universities to design courses and syllabuses to meet the contemporary changes and needs. Secondly, the new guidelines give wider scope and freedom to pursue interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary areas and beyond”.

However, HEIs taking separate approvals from BCI for anything related to law having an intersection with other areas of study leaves the HEIs at the receiving end. “It is like opening doors for some and closing for others”, pointed out another faculty member from a Law College in Hyderabad.

For example, a student with a Bachelor of Law degree wants to take up a project study and earn credit in his Postgraduate course by exploring an intersectional area of intangible rights and deity as a legal and religious person and intellectual property rights. Who should give approval for it remains a million-dollar question. Similarly, an undergraduate student of a religious studies course wants to explore and earn a credit course by studying the impact of canon law on Western Jurisprudence with specific reference to laws made during the British era in India. These are a few constraints to list and there are a host of others that leave the HEIs in law confused and uncertain about who is competent to give approvals, he added.