The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) have issued a notice advising people against signing up for online PhDs offered by edtech companies in collaboration with foreign educational institutions, saying such programmes are not recognised by it. In the notice, the higher education regulators said students and the public at large should not be misled by advertisements in this regard. The Education Ministry has repeatedly warned edtech players against issuing misleading advertisements. “In order to maintain the standards for awarding Ph.D degrees, the UGC has notified the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil, Ph.D degrees) Regulation 2016. It is mandatory for all higher educational institutions to follow UGC Regulations and its amendments for awarding Ph.D degrees,” said a joint order issued by the UGC and AICTE. “Such online Ph.D programmes are not recognised by the UGC. Aspiring students and the public at large, are requested to verify the authenticity of Ph.D programmes as per UGC Regulation 2016 before taking admission,” said the notice. The government had last December issued an advisory urging people to exercise caution while signing up for online courses offered by edtech companies. It had also announced to draw up a policy to regulate the sector but later decided to adopt a wait and watch mode after a few edtech players formed a consortium for self-regulation.
