Higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have warned educational institutes of action against offering online or conventional programs in partnership with edtech companies.

The two bodies sent a notice to higher education institutions (HEIs) directing them to cancel agreements with edtech companies after the higher education secretary flagged advertisements that showed degrees and diplomas were being offered by edtech firms through such franchise agreements with UGC-recognised institutes.

“Such a franchise agreement is not permitted and action will be taken against failing education technology companies as well as HEIs under applicable laws/rules,” the notice said.

According to a senior official, some universities were taking the help of edtech firms in content creation and also sourcing teaching staff from these companies. Some edtechs, on the other hand, were awarding degrees.

Universities and institutes use the platforms or learning management systems provided by edtechs for teaching. However, some others have completely outsourced the management of their online courses to edtech companies, which is not allowed, The Times of India quoted an AICTE officer as saying.

The UGC allows higher educational institutes to offer online programmes or distance learning programmes (DLPs) under the UGC (Open and Distance Learning Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020. As per the regulations, these institutes are completely responsible for the programmes and are not allowed to offer these programmes under franchise arrangements.

Warning students of such arrangements, the notice issued on January 16 asked them to check the recognition status of a programme before registering for it.

Last month, the education ministry warned edtech companies after several fraud cases were reported in the country. The ministry said some edtech firms were luring parents by pretending to offer free services and getting the auto debit option activated for payment of fees.

“Activation of auto-debit may result in a child accessing the paid features without realising that he/she is no longer accessing the free services offered by the ed-tech company,” the government advisory said.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)