Delay in setting up open university costs State dear

UGC directive on distance-learning courses a blow to students

June 04, 2018 05:03 pm | Updated 05:03 pm IST - G. Mahadevan

Thousands of students in Kerala face the threat of being shunted out of the higher education sector consequent to the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) directive that only universities that have a NAAC grading of 3.26 or above can offer distance- learning programmes.

No university in Kerala has a NAAC grading of 3.26 or above. They would, therefore, not be able to admit students for distance-learning programmes from the academic year 2018-19.

Education Minister C. Raveendranath told the Assembly on Monday that the State government would appeal to the UGC to grant an exemption to Kerala so that the State’s universities can continue to offer distance-learning programmes. It is not clear at this point whether the UGC would agree to provide such an exemption to Kerala.

Open university

Academics who spoke to The Hindu on this issue pointed out that instead of appealing to the UGC for exemption, the State government would do well to speed up the setting up of the Kerala Open University (KOU), a recommendation that was made in 2009 by a three-member committee headed by Ram Takwale, founder of the open university in the State of Maharashtra. Even though the government had, in 2009 itself, announced the setting up of the KOU “the next academic year” and had appointed a special officer for the same, the project has remained on paper.

Already 13 States in the country have constituted open universities. The setting up of the KOU would enable the government to bring under one roof all distance-learning, private registration and continuing education programmes in Kerala. Regular universities now offer only private registration courses and that too only a limited number of programmes. The KOU, like the IGNOU, would be able to offer a bouquet of academic programmes to suit a wide range of academic requirements. Unlike regular universities, the KOU would have Statewide jurisdiction. It would not require massive investment for campuses or classrooms and would not require the costly administrative set-up of a regular university. An open university would also be able to leverage ICT tools to reach out to a wider student base.

Member-secretary of the Kerala State Higher Education Council Rajan Varughese told The Hindu that the Council had constituted a committee to prepare an action plan to set up the KOU as recommended by Ram Takwale. This committee is expected to submit its report in two weeks, he added.

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