The University of Mysore (UoM) is one of the universities in the State eligible for launching online courses under the PM e-Vidya programme as part of the self-reliant India campaign after it secured 27th rank in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) announced recently.
In an attempt to boost online education, the e-Vidya programme was announced and top 100 NIRF rank holders got the nod for launching the courses in online mode.
UoM Vice-Chancellor G. Hemantha Kumar told The Hindu on Friday that the move would go a long way in promoting online learning in higher education and the UoM was ready to take up the task. “The Centre was pushing higher education in the online platform in view of the pandemic which has halted universities and colleges from resuming classroom education.”
In fact, UoM was running over 10 courses in online mode some years ago but they had to be discontinued for some technical reasons. “Now, with the university getting the green signal from the UGC, we wish to revive the courses and await regulations from the UGC on whether more courses can be brought under the mode,” he added.
According to the reports, the top 100 universities in NIRF can directly start admissions for the courses from this year onwards.
“We intend to start online courses from September when our academic year is expected to commence. All preparations will be made for the launch,” the V-C said.
Prof. Kumar said the university was awaiting a notification from the UGC for clarity on the courses since the UoM has infrastructure for expanding the online teaching network. Online education gives flexibility to learners and its need was felt in the lockdown.
A few months ago, the UGC had invited proposals from the universities that wish to start online courses. “The UoM submitted its proposal since we had been running such courses. Our presentation was approved and got the eligibility. In the meantime, the lockdown was announced over the pandemic. However, on Thursday, we got information that top 100 universities in NIRF had been given direct eligibility to start online courses and we figure in it being the 27th rank holder,” he informed.
The UGC had earlier recognised UoM’s 10 courses. “If we get the autonomy, we can include more courses, including UG and PG. It all depends on how the rules are framed. Courses such as BBA and B.Sc computer science existed earlier.”
UGC-Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC), University of Mysore, was the first among 66 HRDCs in the country to launch the Moodle Learning Management Platform. Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle) was the user-friendly platform for the delivery of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
