Last year’s BMS students get UGC nod to continue

he UGC decision comes amid numerous protests held held by BMS students over the last few days.

int(2)

BTech students held a protest in North Campus on Monday to demand that the course be continued in coming years

Students pursuing Bachelors in Management Studies (BMS) from Delhi University heaved a sigh of relief on Monday after the University Grants Commission (UGC) asked DU to continue with the programme for those who enrolled last year, but directed the university to limit the duration of the course to three years.

The university has scrapped BMS, which was introduced last year under the four-year undergraduate programme. This year, it will hold admissions to three courses — Bachelor of Business Economics (BBE), Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) and Bachelor of Financial and Investment Analysis (BFIA) — which were merged to make BMS.

“… Students already admitted to the BMS four-year programme in 2013-14 only by the various colleges under University of Delhi may continue in this programme; however, the duration of the programme shall be three years,” the UGC statement read.

Story continues below this ad

“For this purpose, colleges under University of Delhi, which admitted students in 2013-14 to the BMS programme, may, wherever required, obtain appropriate approval of regulatory bodies, such as the UGC and the AICTE, and ensure that students admitted in the programme are not put to any disadvantage,” the statement said.

The UGC decision comes amid numerous protests held held by BMS students over the last few days. On Monday a protest was held outside the UGC, with current BMS students demanding that the course not be scrapped.

“Five of us met chairman Ved Prakash and submitted a memorandum. We told him we had no problems with the commission reducing the duration of the course, as long as they continued with the programme in the coming years as well and call it BMS,” Mayank Kundra, a BMS student, told Newsline, adding that a memorandum had also been submitted to the President’s office.
Students said they planned to hold a protest on Tuesday outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office, demanding that the programme be continued in the coming years too.

Last year, around 840 students enrolled into BMS and around 25,000 had applied for it this year. But with the course being scrapped, students will be admitted to BBE, BBS and BFIA, depending on their entrance test scores.

Story continues below this ad

Meanwhile, dissatisfied with UGC’s directive regarding BTech, another course introduced under FYUP and scrapped this year, students staged a protest at North Campus. On Sunday, the UGC announced that only students, who had enrolled for BTech last year, would be allowed to carry on studying the programme as prescribed under FYUP.

“Continuing with the course only for the current batch is not enough. The course will no value. We want DU to get necessary approvals from AICTE to retain the course for future batches too,” Shivam Jain, a BTech student from Maharaja Agrasen College, said.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram