For the first time, the Gujarat University (GU), Ahmedabad – the state’s largest and most influential public university – will offer winter admissions to students interested in pursuing higher education abroad.
The university plans to align academic courses abroad with these admissions and courses, which is expected to begin this month. Certificate and diploma courses ranging from three months to one year are available.
The GU plans to announce winter admissions for existing and new courses across five departments, incorporating the multidisciplinary and choice-based credit system recommended by the National Education Policy 2020.
The winter admissions are a first by any university in Gujarat. These courses have especially been designed keeping in mind those students who want to enrol in a foreign university but have to wait for six months or can never get admissions due to the difference in timing of Admissions.
Winter admissions will not be centralised, but rather handled individually by departments. The Indian Institute of Sustainability (IIS), the Department of Biochemistry and Forensic Science, the School of New Age Media, the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and the Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Skills are among the departments (IIES).
These departments aim to cater to the requirements of working professionals or those looking at career enhancement or a shift.
Admissions would be held for courses with intakes ranging from 30 to 60 for both existing and new courses, with a focus on admissions incorporating NEP 2020.
Furthermore, these programmes will be offered in a hybrid format with morning and evening schedules, allowing working professionals to enrol in courses such as the executive MBA in agribusiness management and sustainability and the executive MBA in entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Students already enrolled in a degree programme can also pursue another diploma or certificate course.
Other department heads explained the reasons and benefits of winter courses, saying that during the Covid-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs and are looking for new opportunities, which these courses will provide.
Summer admissions are extremely competitive, and a senior faculty member stated that executives or working professionals who want to change careers would not be able to get in.