Hundreds of students in five districts have been forced to wait for a year for admissions to undergraduate courses, with the Calicut University authorities not extending the last date for application for courses offered by the School of Distance Education (SDE).
According to functionaries of the Parallel College Association, the last date for admissions to regular undergraduate and postgraduate courses in affiliated colleges, with a fine, was December 14. The university closed the admissions to distance education courses the next day itself.
A.G. Rajeevan, secretary of the association, said on Sunday that normally the university gave another chance to students to apply for SDE courses with a “super fine”. It did not happen this time. This led to many students in Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, and Wayanad districts being unable to secure admissions to degree courses.
C.G. Shaji, vice president of the association, said the university could have easily extended the last date for a day or two since the University Grants Commission (UGC) directive was to close the admissions only by December 31. The University of Kerala had extended the last date of admissions to December 20, he added.
The association functionaries accused the SDE Director of being apathetic to the concerns of students when they sought his help to address the issue. “The Director asked us why the students were waiting for the last date and why they did not apply before. Most of the students wait to see if they get admissions to regular courses before trying for distance education courses. Nobody expected that the authorities would close the process in just a day,” said Mr. Shaji.
Meanwhile, the university authorities have reportedly claimed to approach the UGC to see if the students who missed out can be admitted in courses starting in January. They have also highlighted the pandemic situation to seek a relaxation. The association leaders, however, said that Calicut University had so far never encouraged courses starting in the calendar year. The authorities were yet to work on that, they added.
