Thiruvananthapuram: The Distance Education Bureau of the University Grants Commission (UGC) has withdrawn its affiliation of the distance education programmes of Kerala University.
The name of the university does not feature in the list of colleges that have been given sanction to run distance education courses.
The UGC, in a press release, has clarified that universities that do not feature in the list are not allowed to offer programmes through distance mode during 2015-16 academic year.
The UGC has asked students to go through various notices issued by it regarding the territorial jurisdiction of universities, study centres, off-campuses, online courses and technical/professional courses on www.ugc.ac.in/deb/notices.html before taking admission.
Earlier, the UGC had warned Kerala University that its learner support courses violated norms. Following this, the university syndicate decided to close down its 62 Learner Support Centres launched under the Institute of Distance Education in 2012. The complaint was these centres violated the norms on territorial jurisdiction of universities.
The university also filed an affidavit before the UGC stating that the latter’s directions would be complied with. The university also decided to close down 17 distance education courses which did not have UGC recognition.
Mahatma Gandhi University had also closed down all its off-campus centres. The decision was taken following an order issued by Governor Justice P. Sathasivam in his capacity as the chancellor of the university.
