•                 Introduction:

 University Grants Commission (UGC), Distance Education Bureau (DEB), National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), Executive Council & Academic Council of MANUU are the guiding forces of Directorate of Distance Education, MANUU in its academic and administrative endeavours. DDE, MANUU frames all its policies and programmes in the light of guidelines and notifications issued by the aforesaid bodies / authorities. Therefore, Directorate of Distance Education’s mechanism to provide academic counselling support is based on the UGC regulations and orders issued by the competent authorities of MANUU.

• Mechanism of Academic Counselling of UG & PG Programmes :

UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017, Annexure VII deals with Quality Assurance Guidelines of Learning Material in Multiple Media, Human Resource, Curriculum and Pedagogy. In this annexure, UGC has given norms for the effective delivery of distance education programmes which are as under (page no.62);

The Academic Council of the University in its 27^th Meeting held on 5^th September, 2017 adopted UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017 (Under Item No. 27.3.03). Further, the Executive Council of MANUU in its 63^rd meeting held on 7^th September, 2017 ratified the same (27^th Academic Council (Item No. 63.4 (1)). Therefore, Annexure VII (Enclosed at Exhibit 1) is the bases of DDE’s mechanism of Academic Counselling Support for all UG and PG programmes. DDE follows the aforesaid regulations in letter and spirit.

DDE provides academic counselling support with the help of 135 Learner Support Centres spread all across the country. At present DDE runs following UG & PG Programmes;

The following procedure is followed before organizing academic counselling at the Learner Support Centres:

The Students remain in contact with the Learner Support Centre Co-ordinator for counselling classes and for any academic purpose they can contact the Programme Co-ordinator at the Headquarter. The schedule of academic counselling of the current academic year is enclosed for further details at Exhibit 2.

• Mechanism of Academic Counselling for Diploma & Certificate Programmes :

Study material is dispatched to students of Diploma and Certificate programmes. Although academic counselling is not conducted for these courses, Guidance is provided through correspondence and e-mail by the concerned Programme Co-ordinator at Directorate of Distance Education, Hyderabad. DDE runs following Diploma and Certificate Programmes;

• Mechanism of Academic Counselling of B.Ed (DM) Programmes :

NCTE is the statutory body that regulates teacher education in the country. Hence, MANUU adopted NCTE Norms and Standards, 2014 for all of its teacher education programmes of regular and distance mode. NCTE Norms and Standards, 2014 for B.Ed (ODL) Programme (Point 6.4, Page. No. 147), mentions the guidelines of academic counselling sessions and other activities for the students of B.Ed (DM) programme (The concerned document is enclosed at Exhibit 3).

DDE runs B.Ed (ODL) programme and adheres to the norms and standards of NCTE for the concerned programme in letter and spirit. At present DDE has 22 Learner Support Centres   exclusively for B.Ed (DM) programme that provides academic counselling support to in-service teachers of B. Ed (DM) programme.  The schedule of B.Ed (DM) Counselling and Workshop for the current year is enclosed at Exhibit 4.

• Student Support Unit:

DDE has a separate Student Support Unit to provide both ‘learner support’ and ‘learning support’ services to distance learners. Learner support comprises all the assistance provided to the student regarding administration, of the distance education programs, such as; promoting distance programs, publishing information brochures, giving information regarding admission, qualification, fees, duration and benefits of the programs, notification of assignments, practicals and examinations, distribution of print study materials, etc. Learning support comprises assistance regarding academic activities, for ex; guidance and counselling of the students, tutoring, assistance in examination preparation, providing e-learning resources, open educational resources and so on.

• Remuneration for different activities of Academic Counselling Support:

The details of remuneration to academic counsellors, coordinators, support staff, etc., of Learner Support Centres of UG/PG and B.Ed Courses of Directorate of Distance Education are mentioned in University Notification wide no. MANUU/Acad./F.67 (XXX)/2018-19/R-04 dated 16^th April, 2018 which is enclosed at Exhibit 5. 

• Summing Up:

In this way, DDE is committed to provide both learner support and learning support services to distance learners in the light of UGC (Open & Distance Education) Regulation, 2017, NCTE Norms and Standards, 2014 and orders/notifications of competent authorities of the University.