Alappuzha: University Grants Commission (UGC) will take steps to rein in widespread distribution of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by non-existent universities.
Dr Sushma Yadav, member, UGC, told DC that the issue of fake D.Litt had come to its notice for quite some time now.
'The Commission will take steps to penalise people who indulge in the fraudulent act', she said. Dr Yadav, a day after UGC decided to study the quality of PhD degrees awarded in the last ten years by universities across the country, said that receiving D.Litts from fake universities is rampant across the country.
‘It’s a social aberration. UGC has already banned private universities which promote distance education from distributing D.Litts. It also periodically publishes a list of spurious institutes which have violated the UGC Act of 1956.’, she said.
The UGC would take measures to improve the quality of the research and studies. PhD scholars must get sufficient guidance, orientation and training and good teachers, she said.
“Many PhD scholars don’t know what they’re doing. If you sit over 15-20 books and then write something, that is not what research is. Without going through the rigorous process outlined by the UGC, research and studies can make any dent," she said.
“We don’t know why the universities refuse to follow the rules. It’s high time the quality of researches in the country maintained as higher education has expanded a lot over the last decade. There is a huge mismatch between quality and quantity in education."
The obsession of people with D.Litt by fly-by-night Universities continues in the country although this time brought this issue to the light with the series of reports in July last year.
