Special Correspodent
Pune :India’s higher education watchdog has told every university and college in the country to get serious about cyber safety — by making cyber security education compulsory for all students.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) says the move is a direct response to spiralling online fraud, hacking and identity theft. From the next academic year, students won’t just be collecting degrees at convocation ceremonies — they’ll also be drilled on safe digital habits.
“Cyber security must become a habit, not just a subject,” UGC Secretary Manish Joshi declared in a circular that’s gone out to every campus.
The step comes after a Parliamentary panel flagged how easily students and young professionals are being duped online. With India’s growing reliance on apps, smartphones and digital payments, undergraduates have become prime targets for scammers.
The UGC has even issued a handbook spelling out the basics: password protection, spotting phishing scams, keeping personal data safe, and securing online transactions. Universities have been told to run workshops, rope in cyber experts and make digital safety part of daily campus life.
Educationists have backed the crackdown, calling it overdue. Beyond personal protection, they say these skills will give graduates a sharper edge in the job market, where digital literacy is fast becoming non-negotiable.
With this move, the UGC is betting that a generation raised on Instagram and online shopping can also be raised to outsmart cyber crooks.
