The Supreme Court of India ("Court") has recently 1 held that:

  • Deemed to be Universities2 are restrained from offering courses in distance education3 mode from the academic year 2018-19 onwards until and unless it is permissible to conduct such courses in distance education mode
  • Prior permission from the statutory/regulatory authorities is required with respect to each course to be offered in distance education mode.
  • Study centres 4/ off-campus centres 5 are required to be inspected and be found adequate by statutory authorities before the programs can be offered through such centres/campuses
  • Permission to offer distance education programme will be granted course-wise
  • Permission of the All India Council for Technical Education ("AICTE") will be required for offering technical programmes.

Directions were issued by the Court to:

  • The University Grants Commission ("UGC") to take steps to restrain Deemed to be Universities from using the word "University" within one month from the date of the judgment
  • The Union of India, to consider constituting a 3 members Committee within a month of the judgment, to examine issues raised in the judgment, suggest a plan to set up oversight and regulatory mechanisms in higher education, within 6 months. The Committee may also suggest oversight mechanism to regulate the Deemed to be Universities.
  • The Union of India to examine the said report prepared by the Committee and take appropriate actions within one month thereafter and file an affidavit before the Court regarding actions undertaken, on or before August 31, 2018. The matter is to be placed for consideration of Court on September 11, 2018.

FACTS:

Appeals were filed from conflicting judgments of the High Court of Orissa and Punjab and Haryana High Court that dealt with the question of validity of degrees in engineering obtained through distance education mode from Deemed to be Universities.

The controversy related to such degrees granted by the following Deemed to be Universities, namely Vinayaka Mission Research Foundation Salem, Tamil Nadu; IASE Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan; JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth Udaipur, Rajasthan and Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Allahabad, U.P.

The Orrisa High Court held that the degrees in engineering obtained through Open Distance Learning ("ODL") mode offered by certain Deemed to be Universities through "off campus Study Centres" were valid, thereby entitling the candidates to benefits available for any serving graduate engineers. The decision rendered by the High Court of Punjab & Haryana in a similar matter was contrary to that of the Orissa High Court.

Since the issues in the two appeals were overlapping, they were considered by the Court collectively in this common judgment.

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Footnotes

1 November 03, 2017

2 Section 3 of University Grants Commission Act, 1956 states: The Central Government may, on the advice of the Commission, declare by notification in the Official Gazette, that any institution for higher education, other than a University, shall be Deemed to be a University for the purposes of this Act, and on such a declaration being made, all the provisions of this Act shall apply to such institution as if it were a University within the meaning of clause (f) of Section 2.

3 Section 2(e) of the IGNOU Act defined "Distance Education System" as "the system of imparting education through any means of communication, such as broadcasting, telecasting, correspondence courses, seminars, contact programmes or the combinations of any two or more of such means".

Regulation 2(m) of the University Grants Commission (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017, defines "Open and Distance Learning" mode as "a mode of providing flexible learning opportunities by overcoming separation of teacher and learner using a variety of media, including print, electronic, online and occasional interactive face-to-face meetings with the presence of an Higher Educational Institution or Learner Support Services to deliver teaching-learning experiences, including practical or work experiences."

4 2004 UGC Guidelines definition (d) Study Centre" means "a centre established and maintained or recognized by the university for the purpose of advising, counseling or for rendering any other assistance required by the students used in the context of distance education."

5 2004 UGC Guidelines definition (c) "Off-campus centre" means "a centre of the university located outside its main campus (within or outside the State where the Deemed University is located)' operated and maintained as its constituent unit by the resources of the university, having the centre's own compliment of facilities, faculty and staff."

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