In a red-letter notice issued on Sunday, both the bodies asked higher education institutes (HEIs) to annul agreements with edtech companies. Officials said the higher education secretary had flagged advertisements offering educational degrees through edtech firms.
“Some edtech companies are giving advertisements in newspapers/social media/TV, etc, that they are offering degree and diploma programmes in ODL/online modes in association with some universities/institutions. Such a franchise arrangement is not permissible and action will be taken against defaulting edtech companies as well as HEIs under applicable laws/ rules,” said the notice.
A senior official explained that universities were outsourcing content creation to edtech players, some were asking faculty for such companies to teach and certain edtech companies also also awarding degrees. ” Some universities and institutes are running programmes through edtech companies. Using a particular platform or a learning management system is different but many higher education institutes in India are outsourcing the running of their online courses to edtech firms. That kind of outsourcing or franchising is definitely not permitted,” said an officer from AICTE.
“We don’t want edtech players advertising that they are offering MBA or BMS. They do not have the permission to do so. How do we keep a check on the quality?” asked a UGC officer. The January 16 notice also cautioned students against such arrangements and said they must check the recognition/entitlement status of a programme before enrolling in it.
This is not the first time that stern advisories against the edtech space have been issued. Three weeks ago, India’s education ministry issued an advisory about edtech platforms, saying some firms were targeting families by getting the electronic fund transfer (EFT) mandate signed or activated the auto-debit feature. The ministry advised parents to deactivate the automatic debit option for payment of subscription fee in ‘freemium’ models.
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Experts feel the notice is a death knell for edtech firms. “Most edtech firms derive their authenticity and recognition because of their partnership with recognised and well-known universities. With that kind of arrangement being questioned, will students still sign up at dotcom universities?” asked a retired UGC chairman.
This article originally appeared in T
he Times of India.
