No disparity in employment for those who have studied in Open Varsities

Relaxation for online education by Open Varsities recommended

Bengaluru, Feb. 21: The government will ensure that there is no disparity in employment opportunities for those who have studied in open universities, Dr. C. N. Ashwatha Narayana, Minister for Higher Education, said on Monday.

In his Inaugural address of the seminar on ‘Qualitative Reforms in Regulatory Framework to Promote Online Digital Learning (ODL) and OL (Online Learning) Education in the wake of pandemic and NEP-2020’ in the All India Open Universities Vice-Chancellors’ Meet organised by The Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), he told, the government will not allow for any aparthied towards students who pursue in open universities.

He assured this while Prof. Vidyashankar, Vice-Chancellor, KSOU, apprised the Minister that in recent recruitment by KMF, there was a clause mentioning ineligibility for candidates who had studied in open universities.

There should be equal scope for degrees of UGC recognised open universities similar to other universities. Any confusion regarding this will be resolved by discussing with the Chief Minister, he told.

The UGC should make certain relaxations to allow open universities to offer online education. Further, Open Universities should introduce new courses in undergraduate and post-graduate courses in order to offer education to greater mass, Narayana opined.

Educational institutions should work in such a way to earn credibility in the public domain. It is necessary to promote online education if the goal of 50% Gross Enrolment Ration needs to be realized in higher education, he emphasised.

It is a challenging task for Open Universities to update the syllabus on a regular basis and it involves a greater chunk of money to set up the needed infrastructure. Considering this, UGC should release the developmental grant for Open Varsities on yearly basis. Further, Open Varsities have not been able to fulfill NAAC criteria due to the pandemic since their activities are hampered for 2-3 years and UGS should look into this issue, he told.

Dr. Avichal Kapoor, Joint Secretary, UGC, told, at present learning 40% content of the syllabus through online learning is permitted as compared to the earlier 20%.

About Author