UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

A curriculum that offers a major along with minors and diverse electives across disciplines embodies the philosophy of liberal education, which values breadth, flexibility and intellectual exploration. It aims at holistic development and critical thinking rather than narrow specialisation, so “liberal” is the correct descriptor.

Option A:
Option A is correct because liberal education explicitly encourages students to engage with multiple fields, integrate knowledge and design flexible study pathways, exactly as described in the stem.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect since “remedial” education focuses on removing basic learning deficits and is not defined by a broad elective-based curriculum.

Option C:
Option C is wrong because “vocational” education emphasises specific job skills and a focused, occupation-centred syllabus, not wide disciplinary choice across humanities, sciences and social sciences.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect as “purely rote” learning is based on memorisation and repetition, which is the opposite of the critical, reflective and multi-disciplinary engagement promoted by liberal education.

The National Education Policy 2020 calls for holistic and multidisciplinary education to break rigid disciplinary silos. It stresses that students should be able to combine subjects from sciences, social sciences, arts and vocational streams according to their interests. This integrated approach is meant to develop critical thinking, creativity and broader perspectives rather than narrow specialisation alone. Therefore, the phrase “holistic and multidisciplinary” correctly captures the vision described in the stem.

Option A:
Rote-based education relies heavily on memorisation without deep understanding or integration of knowledge across disciplines. NEP 2020 explicitly argues against rote learning and seeks to reduce its dominance in Indian classrooms. Hence, this option contradicts the spirit of the policy and does not answer the question.

Option B:
Holistic and multidisciplinary education emphasises linking different fields so that learners can see connections between concepts and real-life problems. It encourages flexible curricula, choice-based courses and project work that cuts across subjects. These characteristics match exactly with the policy emphasis cited in the question, making this the correct option.

Option C:
Purely vocational education focuses largely on job-specific skills without adequate grounding in general education and critical thinking. NEP 2020 promotes integrating vocational elements with academic learning, not isolating them completely. Thus, this option is too narrow to describe the kind of integrated education mentioned in the stem.

Option D:
Exam-centred education is dominated by preparation for tests and high-stakes examinations, often at the cost of conceptual understanding and creativity. NEP 2020 seeks to move away from exam-centricity toward continuous and comprehensive evaluation. Therefore, this option does not fit the policy vision described.

Liberal education emphasises broad-based learning across multiple disciplines, enabling students to combine a major field with minors and electives from other areas. Such programmes seek to develop critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills rather than narrow training in a single domain. The stem describes exactly this model of flexible undergraduate study with varied electives. Therefore, liberal education is the correct completion.

Option A:
Liberal education encourages students to explore humanities, sciences and social sciences and to integrate insights from different fields. By allowing majors, minors and a wide elective basket, it matches the multidimensional structure mentioned in the question. This alignment makes Option A the correct answer.

Option B:
Vocational education focuses on specific job skills and trades, typically with a narrower curriculum tailored to particular occupations. It does not usually prioritise broad academic exploration across disciplines, so Option B is not suitable.

Option C:
Remedial education is aimed at helping learners overcome gaps in basic skills or prior learning and is often supplementary to mainstream programmes. It does not describe the structure of a full undergraduate programme with majors and minors, making Option C incorrect.

Option D:
Non-formal education refers to organised learning activities outside the formal institutional system, such as community courses or NGO-led programmes. The stem clearly refers to a formal undergraduate degree structure, so Option D cannot be the right completion.

Statements A, B, C and E express the key features of holistic, multidisciplinary education in NEP 2020. The policy promotes flexible curricula and multiple exits, integrates diverse disciplines and values courses from arts and Indian knowledge systems. It also gives importance to ethics and co-curricular development. Statements D and F are false because NEP encourages multidisciplinary institutions and explicitly stresses critical thinking rather than rote learning.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it omits E and thus ignores the importance of co-curricular activities, ethics and values, which are central to the holistic vision of NEP 2020.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect as it leaves out A, so it does not mention the structural reform of flexible curricula with multiple entry and exit, an important aspect of the policy.

Option C:
Option C is correct since it groups A, B, C and E, the four true statements about flexibility, disciplinary integration, course choice and ethical development, while excluding D and F, which contradict the spirit of NEP 2020.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it includes D, which falsely claims that institutions must remain single-discipline, and therefore mixes one false statement with otherwise true statements.

NEP 2020 envisions UG education where students can choose courses across disciplines. An engineering student might study music or philosophy, and a humanities student may take data science. This breadth, combined with depth in a major, is meant to develop well-rounded graduates.

Option A:
Studying only one subject without breadth goes against NEP’s liberal education model.

Option B:
This option reflects the core idea of multidisciplinary education as implemented in the policy.

Option C:
Removing all core subjects is not proposed; foundational knowledge remains important.

Option D:
Limiting students to topics chosen only by departments without flexibility contradicts the flexibility principle embedded in NEP.