NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have warned students not to be misled by advertisements by EdTech companies offering online PhD programmes in collaboration with foreign institutes.
In a notice, the UGC and AICTE said that such online PhD programmes are not recognised by it and asked aspiring students to verify the authenticity of these courses as per UGC regulations 2016 before taking admission.
“Students and public at large, are hereby advised not to be misled by advertisements for online PhD programmes offered by EdTech companies in collaboration with foreign educational institutes,” the notice issued jointly by the UGC and AICTE said. “In order to maintain the standards for awarding PhD degrees, the UGC has notified the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil, PhD degrees) Regulation 2016,” it added. “It is mandatory for all higher educational institutions (HEIs) to follow UGC Regulations and its amendments for awarding PhD degrees.”
According to the UGC’s dual-degree guidelines released in April, students can pursue two full-time academic programmes simultaneously either at the same university or from different universities. However, the guidelines are applicable only to students pursuing academic programmes like undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and certificate courses. PhD programmes do not fall under
the guidelines, it had informed the universities.
This is the second time the UGC and the technical education regulators are issuing a warning for the students. Earlier, they had warned recognised universities and institutions against offering courses in distance learning and online mode in association with EdTech companies, saying that no “franchise” agreement is permissible according to norms.
In March 2022, the Commission proposed amendments to the UGC regulations 2016 and suggested that 60% of admissions for PhD will be filled by students who have cleared the UGC-National Eligibility Test (NET) or UGC-NET-JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) while the remaining 40% will be filled through the entrance exams of the respective universities.