The 17th annual convocation of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) will be held on Monday (April 25) at the convocation hall on the premises of Muktagangotri here. Three eminent personalities will be conferred with honorary doctorate.
A total of 8,338 candidates, including 3,272 men and 5,066 women, will receive degrees in various subjects. While 31 candidates will be receiving PhD degrees, 48 candidates have secured gold medals and 38 have bagged cash prizes.
Giving details of the convocation at a press conference here on Saturday, Vice-Chancellor S. Vidyashankar said A.V.S. Murthy, Honorary Secretary, Rashtriya Shikshana Samithi Trust, R.V. Group of Educational Institutions, Bengaluru; E.S. Chakravarthy, Vice-President and Global Head, Resource Management Group, Tata Consultancy Services, Bengaluru; and Anand Sankeshwar, Managing Director, VRL Group will receive honorary doctorate from Governor and Chancellor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the convocation to be held at 11.30 a.m.
Minister for Higher Education, IT and BT C.N. Ashwath Narayan will be present. A.B. Basavaraju, Managing Director, KSTePS, Bengaluru, will deliver the convocation address.
The highest number of PhDs is being conferred in Kannada subjects as 11 candidates, including 8 men and three women research scholars, will receive the degrees.
In humanities, PG degrees would be conferred on 2,855 candidates and they include 1,901 women and 954 men. A total of 2,776 candidates would be conferred with PG degrees in social sciences’ discipline.
The total number of candidates who appeared for the examination was 10,744 and the number of students who passed was 8,338. The pass percentage was 77.60 per cent.
Prof. Vidyashankar said the KSOU chose to confer the honorary doctorate on the three personalities based on a report from an expert committee.
The VC said the women candidates have outshined men in this convocation too.
Replying to reporters’ queries on the charges faced by the KSOU, Prof. Vidyashankar said, “I am answerable only to the Governor and the Minister for Higher Education. I don’t have to reply to anybody else. Also, nobody else has the right to seek a reply or a reaction from me.”
The VC argued that he doesn’t have to give clarification to baseless allegations that are being made and added that he will not bother to comment on those making allegations. “If any complaint has been given to the Governor, I will give a reply to the Governor’s office. I will not talk about the allegations now and I will not get demoralised over the issues raised since I am answerable only to two persons – Governor and the Minister. I ignore baseless allegations.”
Claiming that he was trying to bring ‘newness’ to the KSOU, the VC said the KSOU was trying to be different from other open universities in the country. “I will come out with a book on changes brought out during my tenure when I am leaving the office in May. I will speak about everything on that day. Instead of worrying about the allegations, I am focusing on academic activities.”
Prof. Vidyashankar said the KSOU was making preparations to go for NAAC accreditation based on the directions from the UGC.
With regard to the fate of students of 2012-13 and 2013-14 batches, the VC said students are not at fault and the university is making all efforts since his predecessors did not seek recognition for those batches. The government has taken the matter seriously and efforts are on to address the students’ concerns.
Registrar Rajanna and others were present.
