This is definitely not the best time to be the head of a deemed university. The Yash Pal report has recommended that deemed universities ramp up within a period of three years or face getting dissolved. These institutes continue to face the heat and the UGC has informed them that they must stop offering degrees to students who have enrolled in unapproved courses. They’ve also been told that the distance education courses which they offer must be approved by a joint board consisting of the AICTE, UGC and Distance Education Council.
An institute was given the deemed university status when it was judged to provide courses and conduct research of the level of a university. These universities receive funds from the UGC but enjoy a lot more freedom than other educational institutions. They don’t need to get approval from higher bodies in order to make changes to courses or student intake. Deemed universities offer a variety of courses and also maintain study centers to supplement distance education courses. The UGC has cracked down on these universities and said that they cannot admit students at study centers and offer degrees to such students.
The government has faced criticism for the high number of deemed universities which have been approved in recent years. It is believed that government and political connections have led to easy availability of this status. This status was earlier granted to institutes which were at least 25 years old and now even institutes which have been around for five years have approached the UGC for approval.
The government must first clearly decide how deemed universities are expected to function and what requirements they must fulfill. The UGC’s days are probably numbered but the body is still monitoring the activities of deemed universities. It will be unfortunate if deemed universities continue to operate with this level of freedom and students end up getting a raw deal. Good quality administrators are urgently required at deemed universities so that the institutes operate in a fair and appropriate manner. If these institutes are indeed going to work as autonomous universities then this is an issue which urgently needs to be resolved by higher education regulatory bodies.
