UGC DE-AFFILIATES THE ODL EDUCATION FORMAT OF
ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY & PERIYAR UNIVERSITY
Acting on the complaints by users and other universities against universities running programmes in distance education mode, outside their territorial jurisdiction in a franchising arrangement, the UGC has de-affiliated Open and Distance Learning (ODL) courses offered by Annamalai University and Periyar University recently.
According to an official statement by UGC, the two universities located in Tamil Nadu are debarred from offering ODL mode of education, as the universities have not sought approval from the UGC. The commission also registered them for violation of provisions under the UGC ODL 2020 Regulations.
Details of the debarring
The UGC Regulations (2020), govern distance and online modes of education. No university can offer ODL and online programme without UGC approval. Rajnish Jain, UGC secretary, in interaction with Education Times, says, “Annamalai University was recognized to offer programmes under distance mode from 1995 to 2015, and granting admission beyond the said duration stands invalid.”
“Similarly, Periyar University was recognized for the 2008-2015 and 2019-2020 sessions. For the 2020 January academic session, under special conditions, applications were accepted for distance mode and not for online programmes. However, from 2020-2021 onwards, admissions at Periyar University were allowed strictly in online mode,” adds Jain.
Mentioning the lack of affidavit for compliance and other violations committed by the two universities, Jain further adds, “UGC decided to debar both the universities to impart courses in online or distance mode. The public notices issued by the Commission aimed at creating awareness among students and cautioning them against taking admissions to unrecognized programmes. Admission given by these two universities is not recognised by the UGC, and the negligence might jeopardize careers of ODL students enrolled here.”
Actions against defaulters
UGC is prepared to take punitive actions against defaulters as per its ODL provisions. Sharing more details on the future strict actions on case-to-case basis, Jain says, “In the case of Periyar University, the Commission also decided that the university’s application for ODL mode shall not be considered for the year 2021-22 to 2023-24. While for online mode no admissions shall be allowed in two programmes for one academic session beginning September 2022 (revised from July-August 2022).”
Details of these violations have also been forwarded to the Governor’s office and Secretary, Higher Education of Tamil Nadu for needful actions in the matter. “The complaints are placed before the Complaints Redressal Committee (CRC) and the Distance Education Bureau (DEB) Working Group, along with the response of the university. The final decision in the matter is reserved for UGC.”
Urging cautions
Students need to be vigilant and refer to the data available in the public domain at UGC portal to know more about the recognition of a university, suggests Jain. Advising students to regularly check the university’s website to read the available approval letters, Jain further adds, “Applicants must refer to the year-wise recognition status of universities, at the ‘Know your HEI’ tab of the DEB portal before registering for the application process.
It provides accurate and updated information on the recognition status of universities’ programmes for distance and online modes. There is another option called ‘Complaint Handling Mechanism’ to help in online submission and timely resolution of students’ complaints by the concerned university.”
The universities react
In response to the controversy, Periyar University released an official circular, wherein vice chancellor R Jagannathan said the distance education courses were only being offered with UGC permission. Jagannathan further added in 2021, UGC permitted the varsity to conduct seven courses online, and these were the only courses offered through distance education.
Last year, based on the research projects, syllabus, welfare measures, infrastructure, the university was granted A++ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), read a notification on the university website.
According to reports, Annamalai University has moved the Madras High Court challenging the UGC public notice dated March 25 and 30, 2022. Under this, the university is restrained from carrying out admissions in ODL and online mode. According to a media report, the writ petition demands the recognition of open and distance learning programmes for the current academic year 2022-23.
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