Row over ‘Distance Education’ stamp on certificates

​Warangal: The decision by Kakatiya University (KU) authorities to classify the certificates issued by KU School of Distance Learning and Continuing Education (SDLCE) with a seal ‘Distance Education’ has been creating controversy. The SDLCE employees and students pursuing various courses offered by the School are seriously opposing the decision.

• SDLCE officials, students oppose KU decision and gearing up to launch protests

They opined that the University’s decision would prove detrimental to the School’s noble objective of imparting education to those, who could not pursue education on regular basis. It was a plot to dilute the importance of distance education courses offered by the SDLCE, they averred.

‘The decision is non-progressive. It reflects the narrow-mindedness of the university authorities. It aims at keeping the students away from the SDLCE and also to affect the prospects of job and higher education of the students,’ said SDLCE SC-ST Employees Association president G Bhasker and its general secretary G Anjaneyulu.

For the past three decades, the SDLCE is serving the needs of students across the State while maintaining high standards as per UGC norms. What is the need to differentiate the certificates issued in distance mode and regular mode now, they posed. At present, about 50,000 students are pursuing certificate, diploma, degree and postgraduate courses through the School and nearly 150 employees are working.

Moreover, the SDLCE is the main source of finance to the university, they explained. Speaking to The Hans India here on Monday, Bhasker and Anjaneyulu said the University Standing Council recently took the decision to differentiate distance and regular certificates and in-charge Registrar Prof Altaf Hussain reportedly okayed it.

The decision was taken unilaterally and without the knowledge of SDLCE Director Prof Ch Dinesh Kumar, they alleged. Those in the Standing Council lack knowledge on how the SDLCE is run and are out to affect the future of SC/ST/BC and minority who constitute majority of the students.

Before taking any major decision, they should be consulted at all levels. But the university authorities simply undermined to take the opinions of SDLCE officials, complained Bhasker. According to him, in order FNo.UGC/DEB/2013 the UGC directed the universities to treat the distance degrees on par with the regular stream of education.

The UGC and the Union government also noted that open and distance education in India is contributing a lot in ‘expansion of higher education’, he said. The decision by the university authorities to differentiate distance degrees from regular degree is against the UGC orders.

Hence Bhasker demanded that the university authorities should immediately withdraw their decision, which harms the interests of thousands of students. The same is the opinion of students Guguloth Rajesh Naik, Y Suresh, M Bhargav and Ch Jyostna, who are pursuing degree courses from SDLCE.

‘The poorer sections, physically challenged, those working to make a living and want to study would be affected by the university’s decision,’ they said. Meanwhile, both the SDLCE employees and the students have warned that they would launch agitations if the university officials fail to withdraw their decision.

Meanwhile, Osmania and Nagarjuna Universities which are offering distance education do not differentiate the degrees offered in distance and regular mode.