The long wait for the Malayalam University will end on Thursday with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy formally inaugurating the centre of higher learning at Thunchanparamba near here.
K Jayakumar IAS will take charge as the vice-chancellor of the university. An advisory board led by author M T Vasudevan Nair and O N V Kuruppu will help him chalk out the academic structure.
The classes will start from the next academic year. A high-level meeting held here had drawn up the primary structure of the varsity. It will give emphasis on cultural studies as well as subjects related to the Malayalam language.
Research will be given priority.
However, the officials have not yet succeeded in finding a suitable place for the varsity. Local people are against setting up the institution at Palathani, the proposed site. The authorities are trying to find a site in Tirur itself.
The university will function at the Thunchan Memorial College until it gets own campus. Ministers, MPs, MLAs, cultural leaders and bureaucrats will attend the inaugural ceremony to be held on Thursday, which will follow a cultural procession.
The chief Minister will reach the venue in a helicopter from Thiruvananthapuram.