Beware of dubious centres, KSOU tells students

The Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) will launch a media campaign asking students not to register at unauthorised  study centres of the varsity which have been found to be duping the candidates.

The university will place notifications in newspapers and television channels asking students not to enrol at such centres, Vice Chancellor M G Krishnan told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the university here on Monday.

Four KSOU examination centres, including one each at Hosur near Bangalore, Dharwad and Belgaum, have been cancelled following complaints of mass copying as well as passive copying. Krishnan feared that some students, unaware of the cancellation, were still enrolling at the centres in question.

The VC, however, denied allegations of irregularities in the university, saying the reports of alleged violation of norms were not true. The government was investigating all the allegations, he added. The Principal Secretary, Higher Education, sought some clarifications which had been submitted along with the necessary documents, Krishnan informed.

The university has been in the eye of the storm recently following allegations of irregularities and violation of norms in the appointment of staff.

The centre at Hosur (St Joseph’s Institute for Industrial Training) had been closed after a female student appearing for a KSOU exam was physically assaulted for exposing mass copying. “Re-examination for students who appeared for the examination at the centre would be held soon,” Prof Krishnan added. The re-examination for 13 students who had appeared for MA examination will be held at the KSOU Regional Centre at Austin College, Bangalore on July 25.

No honorary doctorates

The KSOU will not award any honorary doctorates this year, the VC said. “Instead of being criticised for giving PhDs, I would prefer to face criticism for not giving any,” he quipped.  The decision, according to the VC, has come in the wake of the revelation that several universities in the State were giving away honorary doctorates to deserving as well as undeserving candidates.