Home » Posts tagged 'Distance learning' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: Distance learning
Online Education market in India to grow at a CAGR of 17.50% ; TechNavio’s report
IndiaToday.in | New Delhi | January 19, 2015 |
It’s the right time to enter the Online Education Market in India. TechNavio’s report forecasts the Online Education market in India to grow at a CAGR of 17.50 percent over the period 2014-2019.
What is Online Education?
Online education is a structure of learning from an online platform. In this form of learning, instruction and content are delivered primarily electronically. Internet platform is used to deliver the programs/ Courses. Multiple delivery models are used to offer the knowledge digitally. Online education is trending in India and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.50 percent by 2019. It is a very effective form of learning. Currently the online education market in India is in its nascent stage however shows promising growth.
Need for Online Education
The teacher to student ratio is India is very poor. This drives a demand for courses which can be centralised available and can be taught without any physical presence. The demand for online education learning in the K-12 segment and the advancement in technology can very well support this new way of Education.
Upcoming Ventures in Online Education
Ronnie Screwvala, Ex UTV owner and a serial entrepreneur also finds interest and scope in the Online Education business. Ronnie is launching UEducation, an online education portal focusing on higher education. The new venture involves an outlay of Rs. 100 crore in the first phase. This investment will primarily go into content, interactivity, platform, technology, adaptive learning, assessments, marketing and building a national footprint.
Segments of Online Education
The Online Education market in India is categorised into two segments:
K-12: A sum of primary and secondary education
Higher Education
TechNavio’s Report, Online Education Market in India 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. It covers the landscape of the Online Education Market in India and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report also includes a discussion on the key vendors operating in this market.
A Ph.D. degree from an Open University or by a distance learning mode can’t be treated on a par (no substitute) with a regular university
The Times of India |
KOLKATA: A Ph.D. degree from an Open University or by a distance learning mode can’t be treated on a par with a regular university. The ruling comes from the Calcutta high court. A Calcutta high court division bench comprising of Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya and Justice Tapash Mookherjee held on Wednesday that a Ph.D degree obtained from an Open University “cannot be treated at par with the Ph.D degree granted by a conventional recognized university.” In fact the judgment elaborated, “As such we have no hesitation to hold that be it a gradation degree, a Master degree, Ph. D degree or M.Phil Degree which is granted by an Open University either through Distance Mode of Education Programme or through any Informal Education Programme cannot be equated with the gradation degree, Master degree, Ph.D degree or M.Phil degree granted to a candidate by formal conventional recognized universities after conducting a conventional course on regular basis.”The 16-page judgment came after two senior academics Abdul Motin and Manishankar Maity were locked on a protracted legal battle on who is eligible for the post of a college principal. Shortlisted in the three-member panel, Motin was the second choice; Maity was third. The first choice candidate had opted out. Now Motin has a Ph.D from the Netaji Subhas Open University; Maity had one from Calcutta University. Maity moved court saying he should get the principal’s job for Motin’s Ph.D isn’t at par with his.
On January 20, 2014, a single bench of the high court held that the Ph.D degree awarded after regular reasearch work at a conventional recognized university, can’t be equated with that obtained from an Open University. In September 18, 2013, in another judgment a HC division bench of chief justice Arun Mishra justice Joymalya Bagchi had also broached the issue. “We have to come to an age when even degree of law is granted via distance education. Bearing in mind the method of obtaining such degree, such degrees are not recognised for practising as an advocate, as that would be compromising with quality of Bar. Such degrees by way of Distance Educational Programmes may be obtained for the purpose of acquiring knowledge but not for entering legal profession. On similar footing, appointment as lecturer is altogether different from the concept of recognition of a degree for acquiring knowledge through Distance Education Programme. When College Service Commission has decided not to appoint anyone who is holding Ph.D. degree from distance education the same cannot be said to be arbitrary as it is in consonance with UGC Regulations,” the bench held.
Courtesy
Parliamentary Panel raps UPA move to scrap council on distance learning (Distance Education Council) (DEC)
Deccan Herald | Monday 22 December 2014 | NEW DELHI DHNS |
A parliamentary panel has criticised the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for scrapping the Distance Education Council (DEC) under the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) and assigning its responsibility to the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), saying it was “legally untenable”.
It favoured the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s proposal to bring a bill for setting up a distance education council of India (DECI), noting that there should be a single regulator for distance education, be it general or technical education. During the UPA regime, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry abolished the DEC, which was functioning under the Ignou, and transferred its work under the UGC and AICTE by an executive order on December 29, 2012, without making necessary amendments in the IGNOU Act, 1985. “A faux pas was made by the HRD Ministry by hurriedly repealing the DEC and transferring its work to the UGC by an executive order and the Ignou did not put any kind of formal resistance to this,” the parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation said in its report, tabled in Parliament recently. In its reply to the committee’s question in February on why a new legislation was not brought to separate the DEC from Ignou, the HRD ministry said it was considered inappropriate at that point as a bill seeking to set up a overarching body on higher education was pending before Parliament.
“A Draft cabinet note and draft bill for setting up the DECI have been prepared. The file is under submission of the Human Resource Development Minister. Upon the approval of the same by the minister, further necessary action, including seeking approval of Cabinet, will be taken,” the ministry told the parliamentary panel on September 23. Though the committee appreciated the proposal to bring a bill for DECI, it took note of “apparent reluctance” of the HRD Ministry to bring the new legislation. The panel asked the ministry to expedite the process and bring the bill in Parliament “at the earliest.” It also recommended that the IGNOU Act, 1985 should also be suitably amended to remove the provisions which mandated the open varsity to regulate distance education. The panel said the ministry should also ensure that the new legislation should not adversely affect the rights and interests of the employees of the erstwhile DEC.
Does the draft bill (Distance Education Council of India Bill 2014) address concerns of all stakeholders?
HT Education Correspondent, Hindustan Times | New Delhi, December 17, 2014 |
Education experts say the Distance Education Council of India Bill 2014, details of which are up on the website of the ministry of human resource development for suggestions/views/comments of all stakeholders, should be passed in Parliament as soon as possible. Academicians are of the view that open and distance learning (ODL) institutions, which enrol one-third of students in higher education, offer huge opportunities for providing low cost education to anyone and anywhere. “However, there is hardly any attempt to make a comprehensive survey of the functioning of open and distance learning centres on the basis of which appropriate inferences for designing policies on ODL could be drawn. Unfortunately, the UGC, as regulator, has been oblivious to the lack of quality and efficiency in functioning of ODL institutions. I think the draft bill should be enacted as soon as possible to protect the interests of the students,” says MM Ansari, member, UGC.
Even on the question of territorial jurisdiction, a majority of the stakeholders agree that distance education shouldn’t be confined to any boundary and allowed to go beyond the country, provided there is a mechanism and regulatory methods to control the quality and standards of education. According to RK Arora, former deputy director, erstwhile Distance Education Council, “I don’t see a specific provision in the draft bill on the subject of territorial jurisdiction. However, I believe that once the regulator comes into place, it will not restrict the distance education within any boundary. I firmly believe that distance education needs no boundaries.” Agrees Prof Menon, “There are ample provisions in the bill which ensure that the quality of education will not suffer and learners’ rights will be protected even if a university is allowed to offer courses beyond its own territorial boundary. If there is no provision for ensuring quality, then distance education even within the territory of the university remains a big problem.”
Owners of some institutes have objected to a lot of provisions of the draft act. AK Bajpai, secretary, Kurmanchal Institute of Degree and Diploma Engineering (KIDE) Educational Society, Nainital, which had got a clean chit from a Supreme Court-appointed committee investigating allegations against it for not maintaining proper infrastructure and facilities, says: “I have written to the HRD ministry objecting to provisions in the bill. It allows study centres at existing degree colleges and AICTE-approved centres which, according to me, is wrong. If an institute can have proper facility, faculty and infrastructure, it should be allowed to run distance education programmes. I have seen many AICTE-approved institutes not maintaining adequate infrastructure. “
Once the regulator comes in place, it will not restrict distance education within boundaries —RK Arora, former deputy director, erstwhile distance education council.
In the absence of a provision to ensure quality, ODL within a state can pose major problems — NR Madhava Menon, eminent scholar and academician
Why is a regulator for distance education needed?
Jeevan Prakash Sharma | Hindustan Times | New Delhi, December 17, 2014|
It’s a nightmare for students who have joined distance learning classes. The issue of territorial jurisdiction and valid degree courses in the distance education sector is virtually getting out of control. Despite a June 2013 notification by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which restricts a state/private university from offering courses beyond its state boundaries, private universities continue to bend the rules. That the UGC is helpless is obvious because all it has managed to do so far is complain to state chief secretaries about the mess and urge them to stop the universities from committing the violations. In a recent RTI reply, the UGC has also admitted to writing to the chief secretary of Karnataka to stop the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) from offering degree courses through institutes in other states.
“The violation is so blatant that even in Delhi hundreds of institutes affiliated to state/private universities of other states, are offering degree courses which are illegal in view of the UGC’s own notification. Since the UGC is a mute spectator in this case, the future of lakhs of students is in jeopardy as the degrees they get will not be considered valid in spite of the fact that they have paid good money for the same,” says a UGC official. Appointment of UGC as a regulator for distance education programmes is a stopgap arrangement till a new distance education council of India is set up. UGC does not have the requisite expertise to perform the task. “There’s an urgent need for the distance education of India bill to be passed in Parliament and made an act so that a regulatory authority can take control of distance education in India. It should have come in earlier during the UPA government rule. There is a complete paralysis as private universities have been offering all sorts of courses without any checks for the last couple of years. So some authority must come up to stop this right now,” says Professor NR Madhava Menon, an eminent academician, under whose chairmanship a committee was set up to revamp distance education in India. It was his committee’s recommendation based on which the Distance Education Council was dissolved and the UGC was given power to regulate distance education till a new regulator came in. The Madhava Menon Committee has envisaged a regulatory authority such as the distance education council of India through an act of Parliament.
Another issue hampering student interests relates to new three-year and postgraduate degree courses being launched by numerous private universities without UGC approval. Interestingly, a national collaborator of KSOU recently circulated a mail among various institutes informing them about new three-year-degree course devised and started by the university. These degree courses are BSc in hotel management, BSc in fashion technology, BSc in interior design etc. The collaborator also said there were some other degree programmes such as BSc in multimedia, BSc in fire and safety etc which are under process in the university. The institutes were asked to sign agreements with KSOU for running the courses. While other private universities are more discreet in offering such courses, KSOU is defiantly defending its programmes, with the registrar of the university saying, “These courses are approved by the statutory bodies such as academic council and board of management of the university so they are valid and the university has the power to introduce such new courses.”
HT Education has also received many replies through RTI applications in which the UGC has said that a private/state university cannot “invent” degree courses on its own and that such courses are illegal. In an RTI reply published by HT Education on July 23, 2014, the UGC had said that courses such as MSc in fashion communication, MBA in interior designing, BSc in operation theatre technology, MBA in fire safety, and BSc in airlines and hospitality etc were invalid. Says Prof Menon, “The UGC has the overall authority in higher education and therefore, if you are introducing a new degree course, the UGC will have to concur. It is independent in its domain.”
Draft bill: Salient points
Lay down norms, guidelines and standards for offering various programmes of higher education through distance education system. Grant recognition toprogrammes of higher education offered through distance education system. Lay down norms, guidelines and standards for regulating and monitoring online programmes. Regulate the collaboration between foreign education providers and Indian higher education institutions and take steps to prevent commercialisation of distance education
Develop guidelines for fees to be charged by higher education institutions imparting distance education to ensure that the fees is not exorbitant and recovers programme development costs . Take all necessary steps to prevent commercialisation of open and distance education.
36,36,744 students enrolled in 2009-2010
1,112 students joined the system in 1962-63
Universities cautioned by UGC on violation of jurisdiction, study centres norms
Free Press Journal | , October 15, 2014 |
Indore : The University Grants Commission ( UGC) has cautioned universities/ institutions not to violate its policy on territorial jurisdiction, study centres and non- franchising of study centres for offering programmes through distance mode. Besides, the universities/ institutions have been directed to offer only those courses which are approved by the UGC. In a letter to the Vice Chancellors of all types of varsities, the UGC said that it has learnt that some universities are offering programmes through distance mode without the approval of UGC/ erstwhile DEC and several universities/ institutions have opened their study centres in violation of the policy of UGC and erstwhile DEC on territorial jurisdiction. It added that some institutions are also giving misleading advertisements in newspapers and other public media that the programmes offered by these institutions are approved by the UGC. “ The same is not permissible by the UGC and should be immediately stopped,” the UGC letter went on to added. The Commission directed the universities/ institutions to offer only those programmes which are approved by the UGC/ erstwhile DEC and follow the policy of UGC on territorial jurisdiction, study centres, and non- franchising of study centres. “ The activities at the study centre such as admission, examination, etc should be operated by the concerned university. Study centres cannot conduct examination on their own nor can they award degree/ diploma etc. No subletting of study centres should be allowed and any such centre opened by any university/ institution would be in violation of the UGC policy.” It is to be noted that RKDF ( Private) University was caught some months back conducting exam from its institute in Indore. —-> Courtesy
Distance learning: Who has the right answers?
Jeevan Prakash Sharma, Hindustan Times | New Delhi, July 23, 2014.
According to the Madhava Menon Committee set up by the MHRD to regulate the standards of education through distance mode, till 2010, the number of students in distance education programmes was 36,36,744 (the report said that the actual numbers could be more than this).
A look at the history of distance learning in India suggests that initially the University Grants Commission (UGC) had the mandate to regulate the universities, but when the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) was formed in 1985, the issue of regulation of universities offering distance education came under its purview. In 1991, a regulatory body called Distance Educational Council (DEC) was set up under Ignou. Panned as a “weak regulator” by critics, the Distance Education Council (DEC) initially gave approvals based on universities’ programmes. Then in 2007 it switched to institutional approval and later went back to programme approvals.
On December 29, 2012, when DEC was dissolved and the UGC took over its regulatory functions, the latter also reiterated the same policy, ie, the state universities (both private and government funded) could offer programmes only within the state. There have been legal battles fought for quite some time over the issue of territorial jurisdiction as different high courts have passed various orders on the almost similar issues. The Delhi High Court, in the case of Punjab Technical University, restrained the university from offering any programme through institutes beyond the boundaries of Punjab. The Sikkim High Court, in another case, allowed the Sikkim Manipal University to go beyond its territorial jurisdiction.
“It’s quite shocking that the UGC is not even filing an appeal against the order passed in favour of Sikkim Manipal University. It should defend its notification. There is total confusion as one university is allowed to take its courses beyond the state while others are not,” says a legal officer from UGC requesting anonymity.
“The Madhava Menon committee had in 2011 recommended establishing an independent and effective regulatory authority on distance education through an act of parliament. The sooner it happens the better it is for students in the country,” he adds.
Engineering, Science & Technology Resources Portal 