The Syndicate of Mangalore University, which is scheduled to meet on Monday, will deliberate upon whether to continue offering distance education courses through its Centre of Distance Education.
Conventional universities in the State have now begun in-house deliberations following a recent decision of the State government which offered the exclusive right of offering Open and Distance Learning (ODL) courses to Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) in Mysuru. The State government issued a Gazette notification on this last month after amending the Karnataka State Universities and Certain Other Law (second amendment) Act 2020.
In addition to KSOU, six other conventional universities in the State now offered courses under the distance education mode.
Minister for Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan tweeted on January 2 that the government had notified the Karnataka State Universities and Certain Other Law (second amendment) Act 2020. “Henceforth, all distance education programmes will be carried out under the aegis of KSOU,” the Minister tweeted.
“With COVID-19, there has been an increased demand for quality distance education from cross the State. This move will help us streamline and upgrade all Open and Distance Learning (ODL) courses making them accessible, effective and engaging for our students,” Mr. Ashwath Narayan said.
Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University P. S. Yadapadithaya, who also heads the Syndicate, told The Hindu that the Distance Education Bureau under the University Grants Commission (UGC) has allowed the university to offer its courses under the distance education mode till the academic year 2020-21. With the recent notification of the State government, the Syndicate will decide whether to continue the courses from the academic year 2021-22 or how to address the issue.
The Vice-Chancellor said that the university might also explore the options of seeking legal remedy subject to the approval of the Syndicate.
“We have already obtained legal opinion on the matter,” he said and added that if the Centre of Distance Education is wounded up, the university will lose an annual revenue of about ₹ 6 crore.
The university now offers BA, B.Com and BBA courses under the distance education mode. In addition, it offers post-graduate courses in Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, English, Kannada, Hindi, Commerce and Tourism Administration.
