New Delhi: More than 72,000 students – including both Indian and foreign nationals – are currently enrolled in various online programs offered by universities in India. University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar gave this information on Friday.
He said that the number of students registered for open and distance education courses has also increased from 14 lakh in 2020-21 to more than 20 lakh in 2021-22.
Sharing the data on online enrollment, Kumar said that as of October this year, 66 institutions across the country, including central, state and private universities, have been recognized to offer online programs.
The chairman of the UGC further said that after making the rules of the central government, the number will increase. National Digital University, an initiative that was introduced in the Union Budget earlier this year. a digital university operates like a real brick-and-mortar university, but in a virtual space, meaning students will be able to choose the subjects they want to study, attend classes, and earn degrees are – all in the online space.
“Online programs provide opportunities to many students who are unable to physically attend a college or university. The number of enrollments in online programs is increasing continuously. However, once we announce a National Digital University with flexible online education norms, it will accelerate further.”
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179% increase in enrollment
As per the data, 25,905 students were enrolled in online programs offered by universities across India in 2020-21. This number rose to 72,400 in 2021-22, registering a record growth of 179 per cent.
Out of the total enrollment in 2021-22, the maximum number of students (36,860) are enrolled in deemed-to-be universities.
At present, 4 Central Universities, 20 State Universities, 30 Deemed Universities and 12 Private Universities are offering a total of 371 online programs.
Course-wise enrollment data shows that at the undergraduate level, the highest number of students (13,062) are enrolled in Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) courses, followed by Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) with 4,991 students. At the postgraduate level, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) saw the highest enrollment with 28,236 students, followed by the Master of Computer Application (MCA) with 5,365 students.
For open and distance education programmes, enrollment increased from 14,38,101 students in 2020-21 to 20,37,676 in the year 2021-22, registering a growth of around 42 per cent.
Kumar said the increase in enrollment for both online and open and distance learning courses is good news as it will “enable students to become more employable in the emerging job market and have the added benefit of increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio”.
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)
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