Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is visiting Bengaluru on Friday on party work, is expected to be flooded with petitions from students demanding resolution to the imbroglio surrounding the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), the State’s only open university whose recognition stands withdrawn.
- The Karnataka State Open University was derecognised by the UGC in June 2015, citing violation of territorial jurisdiction besides signing MoUs with institutions outside the State by flouting rules
- The move hit over 3.94 lakh students — 94,000 from Karnataka and three lakh students from outside Karnataka — pursuing various courses through the Open Distance Learning mode from the State’s only open university founded in 1996
- There have been no admissions since 2015, with the UGC turning down the KSOU’s request for re-establishing recognition for resuming admissions for 2015–16 and 2016–17. Admissions for 2017–18 appears unlikely, and application seeking admissions for 2018–19 is before the UGC
- Some aggrieved students and organisations have written to the President, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the UGC seeking early solution to the imbroglio but the issue has remained unresolved, putting career prospects of students in trouble
While the University Grants Commission derecognised the KSOU retrospectively from 2012–13 in June 2015 citing blatant violation of norms, nearly four lakh aggrieved students from Karnataka and outside want the issue resolved so that their future is not jeopardised. Over three lakh students from outside Karnataka and 94,000 students from Karnataka had taken admission to various courses at the time of derecognition. Since 2015, no admissions have taken place in the KSOU.
Students who had taken admission to inhouse programmes of the KSOU in 2013–14 and 2015–16 are in a state of anxiety since they are uncertain of getting degrees until the issue finds a “workable” solution.
What has them concerned particularly is Minister for Higher Education Basavaraj Rayaraddi’s recent statement that the government may even consider shutting down the KSOU if the UGC does not change its stand, even though he eventually retracted it. The issue has acquired a political dimension with the the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and some BJP leaders taking up the cause. KSOU officials’ repeated attempts from two years to get back recognition has gone in vain.
The matter has also reached the Prime Minister’s Office, with a petition by Mysore Grahakara Parishat, and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too has urged Mr. Javadekar to resolve the uncertainty.
The reasons the UGC had cited for declining recognition is violation of territorial jurisdiction, opening of study centres outside the State, and signing MoUs with private institutions for conducting programmes and technical courses. The university, in its recent public notice, claimed that it had complied with all directives of the UGC and legally terminated the MoUs entered with Academic Collaborative Institutions besides terminating franchising of education. It is still awaiting a reply.
“I don’t think anything more is left for us to submit to the UGC seeking recognition. About 40,000 pages of documents have been submitted since the time the recognition was terminated. The Minister has given us an appointment to submit our petition. We are hoping for a positive change,” said KSOU Registrar Chandrashekar. The KSOU has also filed a writ of mandamus in the High Court of Karnataka seeking a directive to the UGC for early decision on the recognition issue, he said.
Solution still distant?
The UGC’s new set of guidelines and regulations for recognition for universities offering higher education in Open Distance Learning mode are expected to be applicable from January 2018 onwards. “A solution [to the KSOU issue] before this appears unlikely,” sources said.