Open and Distance Learning (ODL) courses, usually preferred by the disadvantaged groups, have seen a significant drop in admissions in July (2024) and January sessions after the recently introduced centralised registration system for candidates led to problems of data mismatch and cancellation of applications.

Last year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) made it mandatory for all candidates seeking distance education programmes to register with its Distance Education Bureau (DEB).

B. Arun Kumar, director (academics) at the Vardhman Mahaveer Open University (VMOU) in Kota, said students used to directly apply online for admission into ODL courses till the July session last year.

Now, the UGC rules require students to first procure their DEB-ID (Distance Education Bureau ID) by creating an Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) ID through their Digilocker accounts. This means the applicants are forced to create multiple IDs to apply for admission, making the process cumbersome.

Kumar said married women, who mostly opted for distance learning programmes, were encountering several problems. After the change in their surname, the name on their educational documents does not match their current name. After detecting the mismatch, the open universities ask applicants to produce documents of marriage and surname change. Many aspirants do not respond, forcing the universities to cancel their applications.

“The new procedure introduced by the UGC has created huge complications in admission. The admission system should be flexible and easy to handle so that the purpose of distance education to democratise higher education by providing increased access, especially to disadvantaged groups, will be achieved. But the UGC’s mandate of prior requirement of DEB-ID for admission seeks to deny easy access to many students,” Kumar said.

Kumar said the admissions dropped by around 30-40 per cent in July 2024 and January 2025 sessions against the preceding corresponding admission cycles at the VMOU.

A UGC official said the new system was made mandatory to check fraudulent practices by several universities, particularly private ones, that tamper with admission data.

“There have been complaints of universities giving admission from a retrospective date and creating forged documents for students. This can be checked if the UGC knows the names and details of all students from the time of admission,” the official said.

A faculty member of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) said admission had dropped by about 20 per cent in the January session and attributed it to the complicated process. “If the UGC wanted to check fraud, they should have asked universities to carry out admission and submit all the data immediately after that,” he added. He said the UGC was framing policies without consulting the institutions offering distance education.

An email has been sent to UGC chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar to understand his perspective on concerns over the drop in admissions. His response is awaited.