Punjab is set to get its first digital university in Patiala after State Empowered Committee on Higher Education cleared edtech company Physics Wallah’s project for a three-acre campus on Wednesday.
A senior government official said that once the Letter of Intent is issued, the company will be able to set up the administrative campus and start courses from July this year.
The digital university will have a physical campus, but it will serve only as the “headquarters” for administrative purposes. No regular classes will be held on campus.
Punjab Higher Education Department framed the “Punjab Private Digital Open Universities Policy” in January this year, opening the sector to private players in digital education. The move enables students to complete degree courses from home through online education.
Punjab and Kerala are the only two states in the country that have allowed private participation in digital higher education.
A senior official said the broad objective of a private digital open university is “to provide teaching and training in higher education through digital, online, distance, or open modes and to make provisions for research and innovation through technology-enabled systems”.
The official added that the university will offer undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional programmes through online classes, digital assessments, virtual laboratories, and other technology-enabled tools that overcome the physical separation of teacher and learner using the internet.
Under the policy’s regulatory framework, interested private players must have at least five years of credible experience in online learning, maintain a corpus fund of at least Rs 20 crore, and submit a processing fee of Rs 5 lakh with the application to Punjab Department of Higher Education. Once approval is granted, another Rs 20 lakh has to be paid to the government.
To protect the interests of local students, the government has mandated that at least 15 per cent of seats in the university be reserved for Punjab-domiciled learners. The state government may also impose penalties of up to Rs 25 lakh if the private player violates UGC or other regulatory norms.
Punjab currently has 16 universities in total. The State Empowered Committee on Higher Education has also approved Gian Sagar Medical University.
