Latest news with #UGC
Hans India
5 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
UGC cracks down on unrecognised int'l collaborations by HEIs, EdTech firms
Hyderabad: The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently took action against unrecognised collaborative agreements between Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and foreign educational providers, including those facilitated by EdTech companies. This decision has caused concern among several students who have already enrolled in online courses. N. Vinit Kumar from Hyderabad, who has completed a in Computer Science, enrolled in the Cognitive Sciences program, taking credit courses in Cognitive Neuropsychology and Neurolinguistics. He aims to explore a multidisciplinary area that intersects perception, language, and artificial intelligence. 'It helps me understand the intricacies of Large Language Models and training,' he added. While SWAYAM and NPTEL do offer some courses, the specific interdisciplinary areas provided by foreign HEIs on EdTech platforms offer a competitive advantage. Srivalli S. from Visakhapatnam noted that she completed her BA in Mathematics and now wishes to branch out into Data Science and AI. However, the UGC directive has come as a shock for many students like her who cannot afford to pursue regular courses that require attendance in physical classes. The UGC directive follows an earlier notice dated December 12, 2023, relating to academic collaborations and foreign campuses under its 2022 and 2023 regulations. The UGC has observed a surge in unauthorised twinning, joint degree, and dual degree programs, some of which are promoted through misleading advertisements by EdTech firms via newspapers, social media, and television. 'These arrangements often involve institutions not approved by the Commission, resulting in degrees that hold no legal or academic validity within India,' it warned. The Commission further cautioned that such practices violate existing regulatory frameworks and pose a serious risk to students' academic and career prospects. Students enrolled in these programs are warned that the degrees obtained through these collaborations are not recognised, and any investment in such programs is made at their own risk. Furthermore, the UGC stated that legal action will be initiated against defaulting HEIs and EdTech entities under applicable laws and regulations. Institutions found to be complicit may face penalties ranging from derecognition to legal prosecution. The Commission emphasised the importance of academic integrity and urged all stakeholders to uphold standards that align with national education policies. As part of its regulatory mission, the UGC continues to monitor education-related partnerships to ensure that Indian academic institutions maintain credibility and offer quality-assured programs. 'The move also aims to curb the commodification of education and protect students from misleading international affiliations that lack academic merit.' However, at the same time, there is not a single state university in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh that offers even basic courses such as History of Science. This absence makes it difficult for students to comprehend how different branches of science have evolved over the past 100 years. Speaking to The Hans India, a former senior official of the erstwhile Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE), now reconstituted as TGCHE, said, 'There are several courses available in the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, as well as Science and Technology streams, but students are not gaining foundational knowledge. This lack of foundation leaves them confused in making informed decisions about choosing courses at the intersection of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, and Technology.'
The Irish Sun
17 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Who is TikToker Sam Walker?
AN INTERNET gangster was brutally attacked just days after making a video at the scene of the murders of two Scottish mob leaders. The self-fashioned social media influencer who has garnered a huge following online after documenting his criminal life was left hospitalised in the aftermath of the attack. 4 Viewers believe he was hit with a golf club Credit: UGC Who is Sam Walker? Sam Walker is a social media influencer who has amassed over 150,000 followers on TikTok. Walker is a Liverpool-born creator who is currently living in the south of Spain. The creator has amassed followers through his content, which documents his alleged criminal life. Walker has travelled the world due to his work and has shared his trips to READ MORE NEWS 4 Sam Walker was left hospitalised Credit: UGC While there, it seems that he meets drug dealers and assorted criminals, garnering a following, but also facing ridicule for potentially exaggerating his stories. In March of the previous year, Walker had openly ridiculed the police after he skipped bail in the UK and escaped to Sierra Leone via private jet, where he then established his life and charity work with children from the country. He reportedly has more than 130 offences to his name and last September was found guilty of contempt of court for live-streaming from an Irish courtroom on TikTok while there, entering a guilty plea for driving-related charges. What happened to Sam Walker? 4 Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan were shot in Spain Credit: Les Gallagher In May, Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr were shot in Monaghan's bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. Most read in The Sun Both Monaghan and Lyons were believed to be Scottish mobsters in gangs. The bloody assault was in front of customers who had been watching the Champions League final. Following the incident, Walker visited the same bar, posting to his TikTok his experience. He said: 'This is a message to any one of yous out here. "Stay on point, because if you get caught slipping. That's what happens. 'Three people have been whacked, two people are dead. Have a nice day, bam bam." It is understood that his actions were seen as disrespectful to the victims of the shooting. Following the incident, it is believed that gangster Walker had been brutally attacked in Puerto Banus, a small town southwest of Marbella in Spain. The wounds were severe, which were allegedly caused by golf clubs and required staples in his skull to heal. What is his response? While he has yet to confirm the attack on his TikTok, he has released footage of himself in a Spanish hospital. 4 Picture of Sam Walker after the attack. Credit: UGC He has told his followers that the reason he is in the hospital is that he was in a car crash in Portugal. There was an image posted to his social media to report the news, and days later referred to the incident as the sixth attempt on his life in the last year.
Scottish Sun
17 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Who is TikToker Sam Walker?
He is also known for his charity work Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN INTERNET gangster was brutally attacked just days after making a video at the scene of the murders of two Scottish mob leaders. The self-fashioned social media influencer who has garnered a huge following online after documenting his criminal life was left hospitalised in the aftermath of the attack. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Viewers believe he was hit with a golf club Credit: UGC Who is Sam Walker? Sam Walker is a social media influencer who has amassed over 150,000 followers on TikTok. Walker is a Liverpool-born creator who is currently living in the south of Spain. The creator has amassed followers through his content, which documents his alleged criminal life. Walker has travelled the world due to his work and has shared his trips to Sierra Leone, Turkey, Cyprus, Ireland and Thailand on social media. 4 Sam Walker was left hospitalised Credit: UGC While there, it seems that he meets drug dealers and assorted criminals, garnering a following, but also facing ridicule for potentially exaggerating his stories. In March of the previous year, Walker had openly ridiculed the police after he skipped bail in the UK and escaped to Sierra Leone via private jet, where he then established his life and charity work with children from the country. He reportedly has more than 130 offences to his name and last September was found guilty of contempt of court for live-streaming from an Irish courtroom on TikTok while there, entering a guilty plea for driving-related charges. What happened to Sam Walker? 4 Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan were shot in Spain Credit: Les Gallagher In May, Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr were shot in Monaghan's bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. Both Monaghan and Lyons were believed to be Scottish mobsters in gangs. The bloody assault was in front of customers who had been watching the Champions League final. Following the incident, Walker visited the same bar, posting to his TikTok his experience. He said: 'This is a message to any one of yous out here. "Stay on point, because if you get caught slipping. That's what happens. 'Three people have been whacked, two people are dead. Have a nice day, bam bam." It is understood that his actions were seen as disrespectful to the victims of the shooting. Following the incident, it is believed that gangster Walker had been brutally attacked in Puerto Banus, a small town southwest of Marbella in Spain. The wounds were severe, which were allegedly caused by golf clubs and required staples in his skull to heal. What is his response? While he has yet to confirm the attack on his TikTok, he has released footage of himself in a Spanish hospital. 4 Picture of Sam Walker after the attack. Credit: UGC He has told his followers that the reason he is in the hospital is that he was in a car crash in Portugal. There was an image posted to his social media to report the news, and days later referred to the incident as the sixth attempt on his life in the last year.
Entrepreneur
19 hours ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Western Sydney University Expands Global Footprint with India Campus Approval
Our India campus will create life-changing opportunities for students and future leaders, contributing to India's economic and social transformation, while also taking Western Sydney to the world, says Vice-Chancellor and President, Distinguished Professor George Williams AO You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Western Sydney University received the formal approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC) under the Indian Ministry of Education to establish a foreign branch campus in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP). From August 2026, the India campus will offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, expanding in future years to include Data Science and Science. The curriculum is designed to empower the potential of the next generation workforce by opening unparalleled doors across the globe. The University is also planning to add an agricultural focus to programs to ensure relevancy and alignment with national priorities. The announcement was made at the Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam 2025 in New Delhi, in the presence of Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, along with key ministers from the Centre and States, and senior education leaders. For over 20 years, Western Sydney University has been a top choice for Indian students, known for its innovative teaching, inclusive culture, and global career pathways. India is a consistent top-three source market, with Indian students making up 20 per cent of the international cohort. Currently, 1,300 Indian students study across its Australian campuses, with 25 of their top 30 programs being Australian-accredited and industry-aligned for strong job readiness. "The India campus reflects a major strategic commitment by the University to extend its international impact. We are deeply committed to expanding our presence in India, delivering world-class education that aligns with India's skill needs, and working with government, industry, partners, and local communities to drive innovation, sustainability, and research-led solutions," Chancellor, Professor Jennifer Westacott AC shared. The Greater Noida campus will host Launch Pad, the University's award-winning business incubator, offering entrepreneurial education, startup training, and research commercialisation, directly benefiting students through hands-on innovation experiences and skills development that improve graduate outcomes and career success. With a global track record of supporting over 1,000 startups and SMEs, Launch Pad is perfectly suited to support India's startup ecosystem to build impactful ventures and drive innovation-led growth. Over the years the University has built long-standing strategic partnerships in India with 30 State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), ICAR, IITs, IISc, startup missions, and key financial institutions like NABARD and ICICI Bank. These collaborations span dual degree programs (over 60 students currently), short-term skill training (reaching 200 students and 150 scientists in the past 2 years), and major research initiatives. Notable flagship projects include the Centre of Excellence in Hi-Tech Protected Cropping with ICAR, the Australia-India Water Centre promoting sustainable groundwater use and training 5,000 farmers, and a AUD13 million nationwide pollination initiative completed in 2023. Other efforts include wastewater recycling research with IISc and UAS Bangalore, and the creation of agri-incubation centres to support entrepreneurship. "The campus would open up new opportunities for students and communities in India. Western Sydney University has a proud and long history of consistently facilitating access to higher education. Our India campus will create life-changing opportunities for students and future leaders, contributing to India's economic and social transformation, while also taking Western Sydney to the world," said Vice-Chancellor and President, Distinguished Professor George Williams AO.
Indian Express
20 hours ago
- General
- Indian Express
Why India's new NAAC reforms might backfire
The recently proposed reforms at India's National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) have been heralded as a watershed for the country's sprawling higher education system, which counts over 45,000 colleges and nearly 1,100 universities, serving more than 40 million students as per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) data (2021-22). As NAAC's well-established but often-criticised system of letter grades is poised to give way to new digital dashboards, a binary 'accredited/not accredited' classification, and a five-step maturity matrix, there is an optimistic air of modernisation. At first glance, minimising labour-intensive campus inspections with data-driven processes seems an obvious advance, promising greater objectivity and transparency. However, as the dust settles, it becomes clear that underneath these glitzy digital upgrades, the deeper flaws of Indian accreditation may well persist, if not intensify, unless reforms go beyond the surface. Historically, NAAC's grading system — A++, A+, B+, and so forth – has played a pivotal role in shaping student admissions, staff appointments and, crucially, determining the allocation of government funding. According to UGC reports, the stakes are enormous: In 2022, over 70 per cent of colleges and universities relied on NAAC accreditation to access various central and state government schemes. Even a single notch higher in NAAC ratings can yield crores in research funding, greater autonomy and a surge in student applications. Such high stakes breed perverse incentives. It isn't surprising, then, that a burgeoning industry of consultants specialising in 'Grade Optimisation' services has mushroomed, a phenomenon highlighted in a 2023 Education Ministry internal audit, which noted that nearly 60 per cent of accredited institutions had used external consultants for compliance documentation, leading to growing concerns that self-study reports have become polished brochures rather than honest reflections. The new digital reforms, intended to sanitise the process by emphasising uploaded data, audited metrics and user-friendly dashboards, risk becoming a new arena for performative excellence rather than substantive change. Data laundering can be as insidious as staging a pre-inspection campus clean-up: For example, a 2022 study by the Centre for Policy Research found that 27 per cent of colleges reported inflated faculty research publications, while over 15 per cent admitted to embellishing 'best practices' in their NAAC reports when surveyed anonymously. When the system's rewards are tightly coupled with a handful of quantifiable indicators, such as student-teacher ratios, placement records, or research output, activities inevitably turn toward massaging the numbers. Switching to a binary 'accredited/non-accredited' label or five-tier maturity scale may remove some ambiguity, but it remains susceptible to gaming, especially if monitoring and independent verification are weak. Crucially, the proposal to reduce accreditation validity from five to three years is meant, in theory, to foster a culture of continuous improvement. However, there is a risk that this change will simply triple the bureaucratic burden. Faculty in India already spend substantial time on compliance: A 2021 NAAC survey noted that, on average, preparing for accreditation consumes 8-10 months of labour per cycle, diverting attention from research and teaching. With cycles now more frequent, paper (or digital) pushing may crowd out pedagogy. If the accreditors' gaze becomes more relentless but not fundamentally more discerning, the core mission of educational excellence may recede further behind an ever-thickening curtain of compliance. The human dimension is the crux of meaningful reform, yet India has consistently underestimated its importance. The so-called 'peer reviewers' who form visiting teams are often chosen through obscure or politicised processes. Transparency International's 2022 report on higher education notes that 21 per cent of institutions surveyed believed that accreditation outcomes could be influenced by favours or hospitality, a shameful open secret. By global best practices, peer review relies on independent, trained academics scrutinising institutions with integrity and deep professional commitment. In contrast, India's system too often reduces assessment visits to rituals: Tea, tours, and testimonials, rather than rigorous, constructive critique. Digital platforms will not magically instil ethics or expertise. To fix the foundation, NAAC must invest in assembling a large, diverse, well-trained cadre of reviewers, free from conflicts of interest and subjected to robust oversight, including whistleblower mechanisms and periodic reviews themselves. The essential function of accreditation, in its healthiest form, is not policing but professional development: It should provoke introspection, highlight strengths and gaps, and enable sustained progress. The best models, such as those of the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) or Singapore's Committee for Private Education, blend self-assessment with external review, encourage faculty development, and create feedback loops that genuinely improve teaching, research, and student outcomes. Unfortunately, Indian accreditation too often encourages chasing metrics rather than meaning. The Higher Education Quality Council's 2023 analysis underscored this, finding that while 93 per cent of accredited colleges improved on NAAC-mandated metrics, only 36 per cent showed convincing gains in student learning or faculty research output over five years. To be fair, digital tools can aid in streamlining data collection and improving transparency, but they are no substitute for a culture grounded in trust, integrity, and aspiration. The government's renewed efforts must reimagine NAAC not just as a gatekeeper, but as a mentor. This calls for serious investment in capacity building, radical transparency, and real accountability, for both reviewers and institutions, something dashboards alone cannot ensure. As India aims for global academic stature, accreditation reform must rest on ethics, autonomy, and ambition. Technology may impress, but only a shift in institutional culture and incentives can turn superficial compliance into meaningful change. The real test for NAAC is not how efficiently it counts colleges, but whether it can inspire them to count for more. The writer is former professor and dean, Christ University, Bengaluru
