ASCI scripts new ad lessons for education sector

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will introduce a new set of guidelines for the education sector, to ensure that advertisements do not mislead students.

The guidelines will apply to ads of all educational institutions, programmes and coaching centres. “Recently, ASCI has been receiving several intra-industry complaints against claims being made in ads of various educational institutions. Many students and parents too have complained to ASCI against claims made in advertisements by educational institutions,” said ASCI Chairman Dhananjay Keskar.

According to the recent TAM ADEX report, while most print advertisements (15 per cent) in the first half of this year were from the education sector, educational institutions were the top print advertisers (10 per cent).

Draft guidelines which have been published on ASCI’s website for public discussion, prohibit institutions and programmess from claiming recognition, authorisation, accreditation, or affiliations without having documented evidence. The proposed guidelines also require the name and place of the affiliated institution that provides degrees and diplomas on behalf of the advertiser, who may not be accredited by a mandatory authority, to be prominently displayed in the ad.