The University of Calicut is yet to respond to the Sreenarayana Guru Open University’s (SGOU) objections over the former conducting admissions to academic programmes in the distance education mode and accepting private registration of students.
SGOU Vice-Chancellor P.M. Mubarak Pasha had pointed out, in a letter on June 30, to Calicut University Vice-Chancellor M.K. Jayaraj that there was a conflict of interest “with the legal aura” of the SGOU in the latter offering courses through the distance learning mode.
This followed the Calicut University issuing a notification in June for admissions to courses in the open and distance learning mode. Among the 12 distance learning programmes notified by the university, nine courses – three undergraduate degree programmes and six postgraduate degree programmes – fall in the SGOU list. If they are removed, the Calicut University can run only B.A. (Political Science) and M.Sc. (Mathematics) and M.A. (Political Science) in the distance learning mode.
“Most of the programmes mentioned fall in our basket of the academic programmes to be offered in the current year. Therefore, it becomes a violation of the provisions in the Sreenarayana Guru Open University Act of 2021,” the letter by the SGOU V-C said. Mr. Pasha also wanted the Calicut University to freeze the admission process for distance learning courses.
According to Section 72 of Chapter 9 of the Act, only the open university has the authority to run courses through distance learning and private registration. The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently accorded approval to it to conduct nine more courses with effect from the ongoing academic year. Following this, the university issued notification to run a total of 22 academic programmes this year.
Mr. Jayaraj told The Hindu on Thursday that the Calicut University had issued notifications for admissions much before the SGOU got UGC approval for their courses. “We had permission from the Kerala High Court to run distance learning courses that were not offered by the open varsity. The admissions process has already started. It is practically difficult to stop it now. We may consider their objections in the next academic year,” he added. SGOU sources, however, indicated that they might explore legal options to counter the claim.
