UGC eases norms for open universities

The University Grants Commission has eased the norms for the setting up of open universities by amending the rules. As per the amendments, institutes will no longer need to set aside 40 to 60 acres of developed land; 5 acres will be enough.

The move is aimed at allowing more institutes to set up open universities.

The UGC (Fitness of Open Universities for Grants) Rules, 1988 were revised, and the University Grants Commission (Fitness of Open Universities for grants) (Amendment), Rules, 2022 were notified in the gazette on Friday.

UGC chairman M Jagdesh Kumar said that this will allow more players to enter the fray. “The idea behind this reform is to promote more institutions in distance or online mode education without being limited by the availability of developed land for the institution,” Kumar said.

The reduction of requisite space, Kumar said, will help many institutions in far-flung areas.

“Earlier the minimum land required for such institutions, which was 40 - 60 acres, was very difficult to procure in cities as well as hilly areas,” Kumar said.

The rules apply to those open universities which are not established or incorporated by or are under an Act of the Centre. In open universities, education takes place exclusively through distance and students are usually not physically present.

As per provisions of the Rules, apart from the requisite space, institutes will also need to have a core staff of five professors or readers and 20 lecturers. The institution also needs to have administrative space of over 4000 square metres and academic space of 3000 square metres, apart from provisions of a studio with auxiliary accommodation of over 10,000 square metres.