Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' expressed that the move will not only help increase the Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) but will also make education accessible for all sections of the society.
Union Finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget 2020 speech on February 1, announced that top 100 educational institutions in the country will offer full-fledged online degree programmes. Full-fledged degree level online education will facilitate quality education to students of the deprived sections of the society as well as those who don’t have access to higher education. She also cleared that these full-fledged degree level courses should be offered only by the institution who rank within the top 100 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework.
Appreciating the move, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' expressed that the move will not only help increase the Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) but will also make education accessible for all sections of the society. The move’s way has already been paved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) through the UGC (Online Courses) Regulations, 2018.
According to UGC’ norms, higher education institutions are eligible to offer online courses only if they are in existence for at least five years and are officially recognised by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a valid minimum score of 3.26 on a 4-point scale. Also, the institute offering inline courses should be in the top 100 in overall category in the NIRF for at least two years in the last three years.
UGC also stated this clear that online programmes that require practical and laboratory courses shall not be permitted. The mode of conducting examination shall be proctored with any norms for such examinations stipulated by the commission.
So far the UGC has granted recognition to seven higher educational institutions for the year 2019-20, to offer degree, diploma and certificate programme via online mode. The list of recognised institutes includes Amity University, Noida, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy, Thanjavur, and Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune.
Earlier this month, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has been granted an exemption by the commission from its online course and programmes regulation 2018.
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