Double online component of regular university courses, suggests govt panel

Currently, UGC rules allow higher education institutes to offer up to 20 per cent of their courses in a programme each semester online.

Online education, education news, online courses, online courses india, online courses for students, UGC rules, covid-19 lockdown, coronavirus,

Based on the committee’s report, which came out last week, the UGC is expected to release guidelines on university examinations and online learning next week.

A government-appointed committee, tasked with suggesting ways to promote online learning during the COVID-19 lockdown, has recommended tweaking UGC regulations to raise the limit on online instruction in regular programmes across universities.

Currently, the UGC (Credit Framework for online learning courses through SWAYAM) Regulations, 2016, allow higher education institutions to offer up to 20 per cent of the their courses in a programme each semester through online learning platform SWAYAM, which is run by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development and offers Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

The panel, led by Nageshwar Rao, Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), has recommended that the cap be extended to 40 per cent in “national interest during COVID19”.

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Based on the committee’s report, which came out last week, the UGC is expected to release guidelines on university examinations and online learning next week.

The report also states that universities with either a valid NAAC score equal to or greater than 3.01 or with a rank in the top 100 in the overall NIRF ranking at least once in the last two cycles should be permitted to offer online programmes without UGC’s permission.

“However, they have to give an undertaking that they shall comply with all other provisions of the UGC Online Regulations, as amended from time to time, in ‘letter and spirit’,” the report states.

The committee expects this reform to make around 200 universities eligible for offering full-fledged online programmes from the academic session starting July 2020, for a period of two years. The prohibited programmes, as mentioned in the regulations, shall remain prohibited.

Ritika Chopra

Ritika Chopra, an award-winning journalist with over 17 years of experience, serves as the Chief of the National Bureau (Govt) and National Education Editor at The Indian Express in New Delhi. In her current role, she oversees the newspaper's coverage of government policies and education. Ritika closely tracks the Union Government, focusing on the politically sensitive Election Commission of India and the Education Ministry, and has authored investigative stories that have prompted government responses. Ritika joined The Indian Express in 2015. Previously, she was part of the political bureau at The Economic Times, India’s largest financial daily. Her journalism career began in Kolkata, her birthplace, with the Hindustan Times in 2006 as an intern, before moving to Delhi in 2007. Since then, she has been reporting from the capital on politics, education, social sectors, and the Election Commission of India. ... Read More

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