Overseas institutions that deliver online-only programmes will now be assessed and approved by the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ).

UCJ's Director Dr Yvonette Marshall says the decision to assess institutions which deliver programmes solely online emerged from increasing concern about the quality of some online programmes currently being offered. She says there is a need to confirm whether their standards are comparable to those offered in conventional face-to-face settings and whether they meet local standards.

She says the UCJ holds distance education programmes to the same high standards as those delivered in a traditional classroom setting.

Marshall says the UCJ has developed a set of guidelines as a benchmark for online programmes.