UGC Draft New Guidelines Higher education has been the subject of proposed recommendations from the University Grants Commission. Universities can offer online degrees and distance education courses without obtaining prior UGC approval. With ed-tech firms’ assistance, universities that offer online courses can now acquire approximately 40% of content externally and generate 60% in-house. It says that all intellectual property rights to content created in-house must be owned by higher education institutions, and prohibits ed-tech businesses from claiming ownership. The commission is also seeking feedback through March 15.
A senior UGC official explained that students have the option of sourcing external content so that they don’t have to work hard to find good online programs to pursue. Students can just go to a university and find options,” he said.
Institutes can use up to 40% external content in the UGC Draft Guidelines
M Jagadesh Kumar, UGC chair, says the recommendations are in line with NEP 2020. High-quality online education is now a requirement for top online and remote learning institutions. Institutions have the option of getting content from outside sources or developing it internally. University and institutional approval has been restricted to those that meet these criteria according to the UGC.
In accordance with the new guidelines, all autonomous colleges will be able to offer distance education courses and online degrees starting this year
