The Sree Narayana Guru Open University (SNGOU) will utilise the laboratory and other facilities of government and aided colleges to offer science courses, Vice Chancellor of the fledgling university P.M. Mubarak Pasha has said.
Pointing out that the absence of practical classes had resulted in such courses finding few takers in other open universities, Dr. Pasha said the State’s strong network of arts and science colleges, affiliated to various universities, could be leveraged to circumvent hurdles associated with offering science courses through the distance education mode.
“We intend to designate well-equipped colleges as programme centres across the State to conduct practical classes on weekends. Considering that arts and science colleges spend 12 hours for laboratory sessions in a semester on an average for science courses, we hope to ensure an equal or greater duration within semesters that are 16 weeks long. Besides utilising the college facilities, the services of their faculty members will also be roped in for conducting the practical sessions,” Dr. Pasha told The Hindu .
The open university also plans to adopt a blended pedagogical approach that will enable it to disseminate offline modules through the virtual learning mode. Study materials that include tutorial videos and documents will be made accessible for students for a certain period, possibly for the duration of the course. “While the feature will be beneficial for large sections than live sessions owing to connectivity issues, we also intend to facilitate interactive sessions with teachers to supplement the learning process,” he said.
Dr. Pasha, who assumed charge at the helm of the university along with Pro Vice Chancellor S.V. Sudheer and Registrar P.N. Dileep on Monday, said he hoped to overcome the teething challenges through collective efforts. He said the university, named after Sree Narayana Guru, would stay true to the ideals propagated by the social reformer. While ensuring top priority for equality and accessibility, the university would strive to uphold quality, he said.
While efforts were currently on to constitute the Boards of Studies, the university will take a call on courses that could be launched immediately following discussions with Higher Education Department officials next week.
