NALSAR, IIFT, Pune University among 25 institutions allowed to offer distance learning programme

NEW DELHI: As many as 25 universities have been allowed to start Open and Distance Learning (ODL) courses from the academic year 2020. The universities granted Category I autonomy by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under its graded autonomy scheme last year have been allowed to start the programmes without any prior approval.

There are 14 deemed to be universities, 10 state universities and one central university on the list. As per the UGC circular issued in November, universities may offer courses in the ODL mode, provided they satisfy conditions laid down from time to time.

However, these institutions cannot start or run any professional courses governed by specific Acts of Parliament, except with the prior and specific approval of the regulatory authorities. The UGC circular also states that no institution shall conduct research programmes – M.Phil and Ph.D –through distance education mode.

They are also not allowed to start programmes in engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, physiotherapy, agriculture, hotel management and any other programme not permitted to be offered in distance mode by the respective statutory councils.

Who got approval

Five Maharashtra institutions, including Savitribai Phule Pune University, Bharti Vidyapeeth, Narsee Monjee Mumbai, have been permitted.

Four universities from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are on the list. These include Andhra University, GITAM (Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management), SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Alagappa University. There are three from Telangana – Nalsar University of Law, Osmania University and Central university of Hyderabad. The last is the only central university on the list. There is one each from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana and two from Karnataka.

In March 2018, the UGC has granted autonomy to sixty higher educational institutions for maintaining high academic standards. These included 52 universities and eight colleges.

The 52 universities have been given freedom to start new courses, off-campus centres, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs and hire foreign faculty.

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