Maharashtra education department forms panel to set up ‘online’ university: Report

NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra higher and technical education department has formed a committee to establish an ‘online’ university owing to the pandemic situation and learning process being turned to online mode, the Indian Express reported.

The panel has been formed under the chairmanship of former vice chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University, R K Shegaonkar, as per the report.

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The committee will reportedly work on studying the provisions of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as well as the structure of online universities set up in countries abroad, and recommend a framework for establishing such an online university in the state.

The committee has been asked to examine if any other state in India has set up any such university and study its structure.

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It has also been given the task of studying all aspects of setting up an online university such as syllabus, imparting lectures, study material, teaching staff and their credentials as well as training needed, study centres and their structures, human resources, infrastructure, examinations and results of examinations, the courses offered in online universities, distance education programmes, duration of courses and fee structures, etc., the report said.

The education department has given a time period o six months to the panel to submit its suggestions following which a further decision will be taken, the report further stated.

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Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has allowed two institutions to offer online degree programmes for the November session 2021. The UGC has released the list of eligible higher educational institutions (HEIs) on the basis of applications received.

Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad (Deemed to be University) and GLA University, Mathura (Private University) have been included to offer open and distance learning programmes and online programmes for the academic session 2021-22.