Norms for foreign education institute tie ups amended by UGC

The University Grants Commission has recently amended the norms for Indian educational institutes going for foreign education tie ups stating that the students opting for courses in the foreign universities would have to study at least one semester for post graduate degree programmes and two semesters for undergraduate degree programmes. The decision to amend the guidelines came as a result of a meeting held by the UGC administration.

In the new guidelines, UGC allowed top accredited Indian institutes to approach UGC for seeking permission for the foreign institute tie-ups. This was in past the exclusive right of the foreign institutes in case of academic collaboration between two institutes.

According to Smriti Irani, who holds the HRD ministry chair, “Today, the UGC has taken a decision as per which the highest graded Indian institutions can engage in academic collaboration with foreign educational institutions of highest grade in their country or those who have crossed the threshold limit.”

According to the new norms, the students would get a mention of the name of the foreign institute in their degree certificates for the courses they have undergone. The institutes which already have a global partnership with offshore institutes have been given a window period of one year to get their pacts approved by the UGC. The recent proposals for collaborations that have been listed to the UGC would be examined properly by an expert committee.

There are cases of fraudulent universities in the country that advertise about their foreign institute partnerships resulting in grave problems for students and their overall growth in education. For any such cases the UGC could have a talk with the respective state government to solve the issue effectively.

Talking about the pending applications for approval, Irani said that it would be responded in the next 30 days and decision regarding them would be out within 60 working days.