UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

NEP 2020 advocates a holistic approach in which arts, humanities and sciences complement each other. Integrating arts with STEM (often called STEAM) helps students visualise concepts, think creatively and communicate ideas better. This combination is seen as essential for innovation.

Option A:
Removing arts in favour of STEM alone would narrow education and contradict NEP’s stress on holistic development.

Option B:
This option captures the policy’s encouragement of cross-disciplinary learning where arts interplay with scientific and mathematical thinking. It therefore reflects NEP accurately and is correct.

Option C:
Treating arts as mere exam coaching undermines their intrinsic and educational value. NEP emphasises arts for expression and understanding, not only for testing.

Option D:
Banning arts at higher grades goes against the idea that artistic engagement should continue across school years.

Statements A and B accurately capture the meaning and benefits of academic flexibility. Statement A is true because flexibility allows students to select electives beyond the compulsory core courses. Statement B is also true since such flexibility supports interdisciplinary exploration and personalised study plans. Statement C is false; minimum graduation requirements remain in place even when flexibility is offered. Statement D is false because elective and flexible structures are widely used in undergraduate programmes as well. Therefore, A and B only constitute the correct combination.

Option A:
Option A is correct because it includes both true statements that define academic flexibility and its interdisciplinary potential, while correctly excluding C and D, which exaggerate its implications and restrict its scope.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it adds C, which wrongly suggests that flexibility eliminates all graduation requirements, creating a misleading picture of academic regulation.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it pairs B with C and omits A, thereby admitting the false claim in C and leaving out the basic definitional statement in A.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it treats all statements as correct, including C and D, which distort both regulatory and level-wise realities of academic flexibility.

NEP 2020 encourages inclusion of India’s rich knowledge traditions in areas like mathematics, astronomy, health and arts. It emphasises that this should be done rigorously and critically, linking past insights with modern disciplines. This integration aims to build cultural rootedness along with scientific temper.

Option A:
Excluding IKS would ignore valuable indigenous contributions and conflicts with NEP’s cultural aims.

Option B:
This option captures the nuanced approach: drawing on IKS while maintaining critical thinking and modern standards.

Option C:
Teaching IKS only through rote memorisation would contradict NEP’s stress on understanding and enquiry.

Option D:
Limiting IKS to religious instruction would misrepresent its broad scientific and artistic dimensions.

The Choice Based Credit System is designed to provide flexibility in curriculum through electives, skill courses and the ability to move across disciplines. It allows students to accumulate credits over time and supports a learner-centred approach. The stem describes a system that supports choice, interdisciplinary courses and credit accumulation across semesters, which fits the Choice Based Credit System exactly. Thus, Option B is the correct answer.

Option A:
The Annual Examination Scheme refers to conduct of examinations once a year without emphasising course choice or credit accumulation. It is an older pattern that does not by itself guarantee flexibility or interdisciplinarity, so this option is incorrect.

Option B:
The Choice Based Credit System explicitly incorporates the idea of credits linked to learning outcomes and workload, which can be combined in multiple ways to form a programme. It supports flexible pathways and interdisciplinary exposure, aligning well with the question.

Option C:
A Fixed Credit Regime implies a more rigid structure with limited or no flexibility for learners to choose courses or adjust pacing. This is contrary to the concept being described in the stem, so it is incorrect.

Option D:
The Term-End Promotion Scheme is not a recognised framework in higher education for structuring curricula and credits. It does not address choice or credit-based flexibility, so this option does not answer the stem appropriately.