PUNE: Symbiosis president and founder S B Mujumdar on Thursday accused Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and state open universities of vested interest in their opposition to formation of an independent statutory council, which should cater to private distance education institutes too.
Mujumdar was reacting to a question on the status of a proposal pending before University Grants Commission (UGC) for formation of Symbiosis Open University, a deemed university in distance education. He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of signing of MoU between Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning (SCDL) and Wawasan Open University of Malaysia on Thursday.
Mujumdar said, “UGC has set up a committee to decide on policy matters as no independent statutory council, which could cater to all distance education institutes exists. Central councils like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have powers to recommend deemed university status institutes in their respective areas, but distance education lacks any such body. The present Distance Education Council is not an independent body as it is formed under an act of IGNOU and Vice Chancellor of the latter controls it. Central government has introduced a bill for formation of independent council for distance education.”
He said, “Though government’s response to demands of private distance education institutes is dynamic, IGNOU and other state open universities are opposing it out of their vested interests. They fear competition from private players in this field. Nevertheless, 40 plus private institutes in open learning are putting pressure on government to stick to its plan.” source: http://www.sakaaltimes.com
Mujumdar was reacting to a question on the status of a proposal pending before University Grants Commission (UGC) for formation of Symbiosis Open University, a deemed university in distance education. He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of signing of MoU between Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning (SCDL) and Wawasan Open University of Malaysia on Thursday.
Mujumdar said, “UGC has set up a committee to decide on policy matters as no independent statutory council, which could cater to all distance education institutes exists. Central councils like All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have powers to recommend deemed university status institutes in their respective areas, but distance education lacks any such body. The present Distance Education Council is not an independent body as it is formed under an act of IGNOU and Vice Chancellor of the latter controls it. Central government has introduced a bill for formation of independent council for distance education.”
He said, “Though government’s response to demands of private distance education institutes is dynamic, IGNOU and other state open universities are opposing it out of their vested interests. They fear competition from private players in this field. Nevertheless, 40 plus private institutes in open learning are putting pressure on government to stick to its plan.” source: http://www.sakaaltimes.com
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