Edtech Firms Can Now Collaborate with Universities for E-Courses
Edtech firms are collaborating with universities to provide online courses to students. Check for more details on the given page.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has opened the doors for universities and institutes offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees to collaborate with Edtech companies to help develop course content and offer online courses to the students. UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh stated that the proposed amendments are aimed at harnessing technological tools available with the fast-growing ed-tech sector for colleges and universities.
The ed-tech platforms will assist in developing course content and financial rules. The reform will enable the fastest growing education firms and universities to come together for the betterment of the students who will be able to avail latest technological tools. The proposed amendments by UGC are expected to be in the public domain for suggestions and feedback by the first week of March.
UGC to Allow Top 100 Ranked Autonomous College to Offer Online Programs
As per the UGC Chairman, the regulator also plans to allow all top-rated autonomous colleges to offer online courses from the upcoming academic session 2022-23. However, the regulation has come with certain restrictions for autonomous colleges. Only those colleges that have been among the top 100 rank holders in NIRF (National Institute Ranking Framework) twice in the last three years or have NAAC grades of a minimum of 3.26 are allowed to offer online courses from 2022-23.
In the current scenario, the UGC only allows its approved universities and their constituent colleges to offer online courses for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. At present, a total of 59 universities under this criteria offer 120 UG, 29 PG, and 2 PG Diploma degrees online. Out of the total courses offered online, only 15 percent are science courses, 50 percent related to business administration, and the remaining 35 percent pertains to humanities.