In the latest circular released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which has asked higher education institutes (HEIs) not to grant degrees in ‘professional’ courses under distance or open learning mode. The agriculture-related courses will also be considered professional as per the new rules and institutes cannot deliver degree programmes in the field in open or distance mode anymore.
The institutes that currently provide distance mode degrees in agriculture are Nasik-based Yashwant Rao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Annamalai University, IGNOU, Kuvempu University and Nalanda Open University. Now they have to shut their courses or tweak the degree programme.
Here is the list of degree courses which are not allowed to be imparted through distance mode:
- Engineering
- Medicine
- Dental
- Pharmacy
- Nursing
- Architecture
- Physiotherapy
- And agriculture
A UGC official stated that the students already enrolled to the agriculture degree programme, in order to protect their interest, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has been requested for hand-holding of such higher education institutions. No new enrolments will be permitted from the 2019 academic session.
(Image Courtesy: The Indian Express)