WHETHER the degree you earn from a Distance Learning Institute will make you eligible for a job or higher education is always a matter of concern. B.Mahesh Sarma of Careers360 spoke to Prof. Manjulika Srivastava, Director, Distance Education Council (DEC) to find out where the law stands of now with respect to validity, recognition and future trends. Q. What is the process that DEC follows to recognise or register an institution ? And where does the AICTE-DEC-UGC joint committee stand? A. DEC approval is mandatory for all institutions before they can offer any programme. The institution has to apply for recognition in a particular format. We constitute a team of subject experts to evaluate the programmes. Till recently we had the joint committee with the UGC and AICTE. That MoU was signed for three years in May 2007. The term for the MOU is over; this is the situation right now. We have not got any letter of intent from the apex bodies, i.e., UGC and AICTE to continue with this MoU. Q. There has been a lot of confusion regarding study centres set up by State Universities out their State. UGC says they are illegal. What does DEC say? A. There should be no contradiction amongst the apex bodies and that is why the joint committee had come into existence. The joint committee had taken the decision that we will respect the autonomy of the institutions. And they will be governed as per the Acts and statutes. We are insisting that when our team goes, we check out the Acts and statutes. If the Act of the institution says that the jurisdiction is for the whole country then definitely we are going to respect that. Quick-take Recognition: By a Government order dated 1st March 2005, all non-professional degrees offered by institutions approved by DEC are valid for jobs and higher education. But this is applicable only to non-professional degrees. Professional degrees: Medical degrees cannot be offered under distance learning mode. For most other programmes, approvals must be sought from respective regulatory agencies unless you are working in the same domain and do not conduct a professional degree in DL mode. B.Ed recognition: Final approval rests with the NCTE. So examine if the institute you want to study is figuring in the list of approved institutions maintained by the NCTE. BTech recognition: According to the GOI ruling correspondence BTechs must not be recognized. But there is a case in the Delhi High Court and as on date the government’s order is stayed. Stay clear of the correspondence degrees until a final decision is taken. Foreign University approval: Degrees from recognised open universities are recognised by most of the foreign universities. If you are planning to study abroad, ask the college you intend to apply for the list of Indian universities recognised by it. Also, check with the registrar of the Distance Education Institute you wish to apply if the degree awarded by it is recognised abroad. Territorial Jurisdiction: Distance learning programmes of any university can be pursued from any state of India. But State universities cannot open study centres outside their State. The issue is not yet resolved but would not affect your studies. Choosing a school: Factors you ought to keep in mind while deciding on Distance Education Institutes (DEIs) are: qualified faculty, quality of study material, number of contact classes, provision for online learning and submission of project work and campus placement opportunity Q. Would you then say that UGC must make a distinction between an off campus centre and a distance education study centre? A. Absolutely, they have to do it because a study centre established in distance learning is to facilitate the learning process. Ours is a learner-centre system and not a teacher-centre system. We provide all the learning in a pre-packaged form, which is a mix of various media so that the student gets the university as close to his home as possible. The concept has changed, now if you see in the US, there are virtual universities. People don’t even know where they are, if they even exist somewhere or not. Q. As on date, where does the BTech distance learning programme stand? Many universities still offer these programmes... A. The Ministry has come down on the offering of BE and BTech through distance learning mode. On the basis of MHRD’s notification DEC took the stand that all the institutions that are offering BE/BTech are only allowed to complete the existing batches and no further admissions can be made. But the order has been stayed by the Delhi High court. Q. What is the current status on recognition of correspondence course in BEd and MA? A. National Council of Teachers Education has laid down strict norms for courses offered through distance mode. Any institute that aspires to offer the programme must have at least seven faculty members, one professor, two readers and four lecturers. They must also have the ability to develop adequate learning resources. Based on an inspection, DEC provides a No Objection Certificate to these institution. NCTE finally accords recognition to these colleges. Q. Are there any restrictions on admissions in BEd? A. Yes, both in numbers and eligibility. Any institute with adequate resources can admit not more than 100 students per centre. No fresh graduates can be admitted. All the students must be working in a school at the time of pursuing the course in addition to meeting the required academic eligibility criterion. Q. Is there a plan to set up service- level benchmark? A. We have developed norms based on committee visits to see whether DEC norms are being followed or not. The course, design and development involve a very systematic process which entails lots of checks and balances. And we have developed that system in the IGNOU, which many universities are following. What we need is to develop our own norms and standards to bring discipline in the system. The norms of conventional programmes cannot be applied to the distance learning programmes. Q. DEC’s focus in the coming years… A. Simply giving recognition to the institute is not enough because we are only checking out the preparedness of the institution. According recognition to programmes is very important. So, if you just recognise an institution you are not doing justice to the students. A beginning has been made by including subject experts, in the teams that visit institutions for DEC approvals. But the way forward would be to develop a set of norms for individual programmes.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 11:59:37 +0000