Tag: University Grants Commission

  • PhD for Assistant Professor’s job may go for good as Centre takes u-turn on the matter

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  After deferring the implementation of PhD as minimum qualification for the appointment of university teachers for two years, the higher education regulator is now considering to junk the proposal completely.

    The possible U-turn comes amid emerging understanding that making it mandatory may further dilute the quality of the research degree in India.

    In August, the University Grants Commission had put on hold the implementation of guidelines released three years ago, which proposed making PhD mandatory for hiring assistant professors.

    The guidelines, “Minimum qualifications for Appointments of Teachers in universities and colleges and measures for maintenance of standards in higher education,” proposed by the UGC in 2018 were set to be notified from the current academic session but have been deferred in the view of Covid.

    Sources said the proposal could now be dropped for good as policy makers feel it could spur instances of fake PhD and PhDs for sale by many institutions.

    Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had last week said in Allahabad that making PhD mandatory for the post of assistant professor is “not favourable” in the current education system. 

    UGC officials who did not want to be named said the new thinking is that pushing candidates to pursue PhD to  get a teaching job may end up making the degree a “compliance tool” rather than ushering in reforms.

    In 2019, a four-member committee tasked with recommending ways to improve the quality and standard of research, while proposing sweeping changes, had also hinted that PhD as a minimum qualification for assistant professors may not be a good idea.

    The recommendations of the panel headed by former Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, director P Balram, however, are yet to be officially accepted.

  • More universities can offer open learning as UGC relaxes norms

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  India’s higher education regulator has permitted seven more universities to offer online degree programmes after releasing a list of nearly 50 such institutions over the last two months.

    The seven institutions are from Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

    The list has been prepared after meetings of the standing appellate committee of the University Grants Commission, conducted in June and July.

    The UGC had earlier allowed 50 institutions to offer online degree programmes. 

    The commission has said that the institutions can offer the online programmes as long as they comply with the NAAC or NIRF ranking requirements as per regulations, and if they fail to comply, they can discontinue the programmes and inform the UGC accordingly. 

    Under the UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017 that were introduced with an aim to improve the quality of open and distance learning, only universities can offer these courses and the main quality eligibility benchmark is NAAC score of 3.26 on a 4-point scale.

    UThe programmes allowed include degree programmes for which UGC approval is needed. However, certificate, diploma programmes can also be conducted with approval of statutory authorities and relevant regulatory authority.

  • Ensure timely disposal of degree verification requests: University Grants Commission to varsities

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed universities to ensure requests for certification of degree and certificates are responded timely in interest of students.

    “The UGC has been receiving a large number of references requesting for verification or authentication of genuineness of degrees and other certificates awarded by different universities,” UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said in a letter to Vice Chancellors.

    Jain clarified that UGC has been, time and again, informing the students that it does not verify degrees and certificates. “The degrees and certificates are to be verified by university concerned which has awarded them. It is, therefore, requested that the universities may please ensure that request or any other clarification regarding the verification of degrees, diplomas and certificates issued by them are responded timely in the interest of students,” he added.

  • Proposal making PhD must for fresh university teachers put off citing COVID-19 pandemic

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The higher education regulator has decided to push back implementation of the guidelines released three years ago, which proposed making PhD mandatory for fresh university teachers in the rank of assistant professors. 

    The “Minimum qualifications for appointments of teachers in universities and colleges and measures for maintenance of standards in higher education” proposed by the University Grants Commission were set to be notified from the current academic session. But this has been deferred in the view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    UGC officials said that they have been receiving representations for several months against the implementation of the norms that said master’s degree, with National Eligibility Test, will not be the minimum eligibility requirement for direct recruitment to the posts of assistant professors in colleges.

    As of now, for direct recruitment in universities, PhD is not mandatory and one can get recruited in several universities after a master’s degree and clearing the National Eligibility Test. 

    “To improve the quality of teachers and education and to give a thrust on research culture, the proposed norms are crucial but there is an uncertainty on when we can notify them,” said an UGC official. “Considering the circumstances, it looks like we will have to defer it for a year or two though the matter is under discussion at the Commission,” he added.

    The norms, prepared in consultation with the Union education ministry, said that to encourage the return of the best of brains who made a mark in foreign universities, a special provision for recruitment of assistant professors in various universities and colleges for PhD degree holders from a university or institution in the top 500 global ranking will be made.

    Also, it proposed that teachers will also undergo a mandatory, month-long induction programme before starting work and devote two hours for mentoring of students for community development/extracurricular activities.

    In the guidelines, the government had also done away with the controversial academic performance indicator based appraisal and introduced a simplified teacher evaluation grading system. It has added academic or research scores for universities to improve research output.

  • Common entrance test for central varsities to be conducted in 2022-23: UGC

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) on Sunday announced that the admission process in the central universities this year will continue as per past practices while the common entrance test will be carried out from 2022-23 session.

    There are 41 central universities in India and the UGC under the Union education ministry plans to streamline the admissions in these institutions through the Central Universities Common Entrance Test.

    In view of prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, admission process in Central Universities during Acad Session 2021-22, may continue as per past practice.Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) may be implemented from Acad Session 2022-23. @dpradhanbjp @EduMinOfIndia @PIBHRD
    — UGC INDIA (@ugc_india) July 18, 2021

    “In view of prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, admission process in Central Universities during Academic Session 2021-22, may continue as per past practice. Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) may be implemented from Acad Session 2022-23,” the UGC said on Twitter on Sunday. 

    This comes a day after the regulator instructed all universities and colleges to start classes for fresh undergraduate and post graduate students latest by  October 1. Most higher educational institutions plan to start admission process once school boards including the Central Board of Secondary Education announce their results by 31 July. 

    In a circular, the UGC has asked institutions to complete admission process for UG and PG programmes via online, offline or blended mode depending on the ground situation with regard to Covid pandemic in various parts of the country.

    The deadline for completing fresh admissions has been kept at 30 September. Classes too have to be started in online, offline or blended mode as per situation in every state. 

  • UGC asks educational institutions to put up banners thanking PM for free vaccination: Sources

    In a WhatsApp message sent to various university officials Sunday, UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain also asked the institutions to share the banners on their social media pages.

  • UGC panel prepares draft guidelines for ‘blended teaching’ in universities, colleges

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Higher Education Institutions may soon be allowed to teach up to 40 per cent of any course through online mode with an expert committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) drafting a concept note on “blended mode of teaching and learning” in varsities and colleges.

    The UGC has sought suggestions and feedback from various stakeholders on the draft concept note by June 6.

    “The UGC had decided that HEIs should be allowed to teach up to 40 per cent of each course through online mode and the remaining 60 per cent of the concerned courses can be taught in offline mode.

    Exams for teaching under both modes can be conducted online,” UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said.

    According to the draft, “the advantages of blended learning for students include increased learning skills, greater access to information, improved satisfaction and learning outcomes and opportunities both to learn with others and to teach others”.

    The concept note has been prepared in accordance with the new National Education Policy (NEP), which the expert panel believes, gives the acceptability of many modes of learning including that of face to face learning, online learning and distance or virtual mode.

    “Blended learning is not a mere mix of online and face-to-face mode, but it refers to a well-planned combination of meaningful activities in both the modes. The blend demands consideration of several factors, mainly focussing on learning outcomes and the learner centred instructional environment,” the draft note said.

    “Given the emergence of digital technologies and the emerging importance of leveraging technology for teaching-learning at all levels from school to higher education, the NEP recommends for use of blended models of learning,” it said.

    “The NEP-2020 states that while promoting digital learning and education, the importance of face-to-face in-person learning is fully recognised. Accordingly, different effective models of blended learning will be identified for appropriate replication for different subjects,” the note said.

    Defining the role of teachers in blended learning, the draft note said, “blended learning shifts the teacher’s role from knowledge provider to coach and mentor.

    This shift does not mean that teachers play a passive or less important role in students’ education.

    Quite the contrary — with blended learning, teachers can have an even more profound influence and effect on students’ learning”.

    “Traditionally, classroom instruction has largely been teacher-directed, top-down, and one-size-fits-all, with a bit of differentiation thrown in, but with blended learning, it now becomes more student-driven, bottom-up, and customised, with differentiation as a main feature,” it added.

    The expert panel noted that in order to implement blended learning as a new mode of teaching-learning in higher education, the area of assessment and evaluation needs to be explored again.

    “Continuous comprehensive evaluation should be encouraged in universities and colleges.

    Summative evaluation strategies including open book examination, group examinations even for conventional theory papers, spoken examinations, on demand examinations have been recommended besides formative evaluation strategies like ePortfolio, creative products, classroom or online quizzes,” the draft said.

    The UGC panel also pointed out that availability of infrastructure is fundamental to teaching and learning.

    “It must be ensured that required infrastructure for online systems such as accessibility of internet, bandwidth, hardware, space and other related resources be made easily available for the smooth execution of blended teaching-learning process.

    The financial aid required to develop the infrastructure and resources must also be taken care of,” it said.

    The commission has also called for experimenting with new tools for examination and assessment.

    “During the COVID time, many exams were forced to be conducted in an online mode. These were supported by variety of tools which came into being in recent times and were based on proctoring through artificial intelligence tools,” the draft said.

    “However, AI as technology can be used for many more assessments like, attention levels, speed of learning, level of learning etc. Hence new tools should be experimented with for examinations and assessments,” the draft said.