UGC Draft Guidelines: High Education Institutes are Allowed to Source up to 40% of Course Content Externally for Online Degrees

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed guidelines that allow higher education institutes to procure up to 40 percent of their course content externally and to develop the remaining 60 percent in-house with the assistance of ed-tech organization. In amendments to the draft UGC (Open and Distance Learning Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations 2020, education technology providers will be described as technology service providers, but will not be allowed to claim ownership of content they help develop.

UGC has posted draft regulations online seeking comments and suggestions for its website on March 15 asking higher education institutions to own all intellectual property rights related to content developed in-house.

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Jagadesh Kumar, the UGC chairperson, said the guidelines are in line with the National Education Policy 2020, which aims to encourage top institutions that provide online and distance learning programmes to design high-quality online courses.

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In the guidelines, the option of sourcing content from external sources will not be mandatory. Institutions will also have the choice of developing all content internally. Students can source content from external sources, so they do not have to search for good online programs to pursue and build their credit bank. UGC officials say that the institutes will conduct their own research and provide options to students.

Currently, only online degrees can be offered by colleges and universities that meet these criteria.

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