Thousands of students who are aspiring to avail a degree through Online Distance Learning (ODL) are advised to be cautious about the authenticity and validity of the degree they are wishing to obtain.
Issues were raised earlier as well to bring forth to mention the plight of thousands of students who had spent good money on distance learning programmes which were not approved by the education regulatory body, University Grants Commission (UGC).
According to the reports, UGC does not recognize any course offered solely through the online mode. Thus, the students should not get carried away by advertisements in newspapers offering such courses. They should instead be more careful while opting for such a course as it could tamper their dreams of a fruitful career.
For instance, Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) and Mewar University in Rajasthan are still openly offering affiliations in distance learning mode to institutes outside state boundaries. The website of the Karnataka Stake Open University (KSOU) offers online, correspondence and regular face-to face programmes in its distance learning package.
The Vice Chancellor of KSOU admits that the degree offered by the university would not be valid for employment as per the Indian education system, but KSOU was offering such programmes to keep up with international trends.
Talking of another major player in the field of Online Distance Learning, Sikkim Manipal University (Directorate of Technical Education), they offer several programmes, all approved by the Distance Education Council (former regulator for distance learning which stopped functioning from 2012) and awards approved degrees only. While the self-learning material forms the basis of learning in distance mode, duly supported by the mandatory face-to-face counselling, the university also supplements the learning with additional material through digital technology.
The recent development on Distance Learning raises several questions. One of the most relevant one being, that if the UGC hasn’t approved some programmes, how are these being offered to the students? The HRD minster also says that the UGC has published advertisements to inform and educate students, but the UGC’s responsibility does not end here and that it must take strict action against universities who are flouting norms and misguiding students about its distance learning programmes.
Source: HT Education