UGC issues notice warning students against universities in China, says online degrees invalid

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has sent out a notice cautioning Indian students, who are planning to pursue higher education in China, to be aware of the travel restrictions before enrolling themselves. The higher education regulator has also informed students that it doesn’t recognise “degree courses done only in online mode without prior approval.” This caution announcement comes at a time when several Indian students haven’t attended classes in-person since the pandemic struck in 2020. “As per the extant rules, UGC and AICTE do not recognise such degree courses done only in online mode without prior approval,” the official notice reads. Students are thus directed to exercise due diligence in choosing where to pursue higher education so that they can avoid problems in employment as well as higher studies, the notice further mentions. Find the official statement here. This statement was issued by the Commission after a few Chinese universities sent out invites for admission to various degree programmes for the upcoming academic years. On Friday (25 March), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held meetings with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, wherein Jaishankar raised the topic of the return of Indian students to China. He also hoped that Beijing would adopt a “non-discriminatory approach” on the matter. Earlier in February, the National Medical Commission (NMC) had issued a similar notice concerning the online medical courses being offered by many Chinese universities. Currently, China is facing its worst coronavirus outbreak that has been driven by the Omicron variant. According to Livemint, since 1 March, the country has reported more than 56,000 cases, as per the national health officials. However, the stats do not include the busy city - Hong Kong, which also records its COVID-19 data separately.