Mubarak Pasha steps down after successfully completing initial phase undertaking of SGOU

Chancellor accepts Vice-Chancellor’s resignation and hands over responsibilities to V.P. Jagathy Raj of School of Management Studies

Mubarak Pasha | Photo Credit: C. Sureshkumar

The resignation of P.M. Mubarak Pasha, Vice-Chancellor of Sreenarayanaguru Open University, has been accepted and his responsibilities will be handed over to V.P. Jagathy Raj, School of Management Studies, as per the directions of the Chancellor.

Dr. Pasha said he had submitted his resignation on February 22, but it was rejected and he was asked to continue until the case against the V-Cs was disposed of. Dr. Pasha had approached the Kerala High Court demanding a replacement following which his resignation was accepted.

He is stepping down after successfully completing the initial phase undertakings of the university. “At present the university offers 28 University Grants Commission (UGC)-approved programmes (UG and PG) and we have over 22,000 students and 29 learner support centres across the State for academic counselling,” said Dr. Pasha at a press meet here on Tuesday.

While Mr. Pasha took over as the V-C on October 19, 2020, the UGC approval was obtained in January 2021. In May 2021, a strategic plan was developed for institutional growth for the first 10 years. “Institutional Curriculum Framework for UG programmes and PG programmes was developed in March 2021 and the 132-credit framework deviates from the State format of 122 credits. This could enable the permeation of diverse academic components,” he said.

Self-learning material

The university also formulated a qualification framework to develop self-learning material for UG and PG programmes. “No other open university in the country has this framework. More than 500 academic resource persons were hired to develop the syllabus and study material through structured training provided by the university in May 2021. This practice is also not tried by any other open universities in India,” he added.

In October 2021, selected representatives of local bodies were enrolled as the first batch of a special programme on local self-governments. More than 3,000 persons registered for the programme and graduated in June 2022.

The SGOU is also the first university in India to offer UGC-approved BA Nano Entrepreneurship course and recently it received a grant of ₹1 crore from the Ministry of Education. The university had also successfully conducted a State-level arts festival for its students on March 9 and 10.