UGC Frames Guidelines of Online Courses

The University Grant Commission has come out with guidelines that provide a framework for the transfer of marks scored in its recognised online courses to regular classroom courses.

The new guidelines have been framed keeping in mind the Human Resource Development Ministry's massive open online courses (MOOC) platform -Study Web of Active Learning by Young and Aspiring Minds (Swayam)

Recently the HRD Ministry has approved the guidelines of University Grants Commission's regulation on Swayam, 2016, which was passed at a recent meeting of the Commission. It will be soon notified .

Under the government's ambitious Swayam projects project around 2,000 such courses are expected to be launched for three crore learners. Students hailing from the backward and rural area can the advantage of the teaching facilities of the best institutes that offer online courses. It will help in developing the standard of higher education in the country.

Keeping in view their academic requirements, under the new UGC norms institutions can decide upon the courses which they shall permit for credit transfer.

But an institution is allowed only up to 20 percent of the total seats being offered in a particular programme in a semester through online mode under Swayam.

The Purpose of the New Regulations-

• The aim is to give the access to higher education and
• Cut cost of education by using technological advances.
• It will try to supplement classroom teaching with online learning.

Swayam will notify to the Registrars of institutions every year on June 1 and November 1 and the list of proposed online courses to be offered in the next semester, says the UGC regulation.

Important points about Swayam are -

• Institutions have to designate a course coordinator as to help the students during the examination, practical sessions and programme.
• Educational institutions have to see that non-availability of suitable teaching staff for running a course for choosing online courses.

Both the students and Institute will get the marks and grade within four weeks from the date of completion of the final examination.