UGC issues guidelines for students enrolling under ODL in HEIs

CHENNAI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued detailed guidelines for students to adopt precautions before enrolling under programmes offered under Open and Distance Learning (ODL) or online learning modes offered by various universities.

To ensure the status of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) through the UGC portal, the commission said the students should also ensure the entitlement status of HEIs before getting admitted.

The UGC's secretary Rajnish Jain said that the students should go through all the documents submitted by the HEIs such as the application affidavit, and regulatory authority approval, which was also uploaded to the portal.

"If the learners notice any deviation, they need to communicate with the UGC for taking necessary actions against the HEI as per the punitive provisions defined under UGC regulations," he added.

The UGC secretary also pointed out that as decided by the commission, the academic session beginning July-August 2022 has been revised to September 2022 and the HEIs should adhere to these rules.

Cautioning the learners against admissions in prohibited programmes, the commission said the ODL programmes do not have engineering, medical, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, nursing, dental, architecture, law, agriculture, horticulture, hotel management, catering technology, culinary sciences, aircraft maintenance and visual arts and sports.

"Apart from these, M.Phil and Ph.D programmes in all disciplines through open and distance learning and online mode are also prohibited," the UGC secretary added.

He said that the learners should also ensure that all activities of HEIs, including admission, counselling sessions, contact programmes, programme delivery, and examinations are strictly conducted by the institutions within the territorial jurisdiction of HEIs.

"In addition, no university, whether central, state, private or deemed to be university could offer its programmes through franchising arrangements for admitting learners and conducting courses through ODL and online mode," Rajnish said.