Just 1 out of 40 candidates from TN writes KSOU's PG exam

KSOU conducted the exam in Bengaluru after an order from the Madras High Court

Rashmi Belur Only one candidate out of the 40 who had registered with Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) from Tamil Nadu appeared for the post-graduate examinations conducted in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Bharath Post Graduate College in Karapagambal Nagar, Mylapore, Chennai (one of the PG collaborators of KSOU) had filed a case against the university for not conducting examinations for candidates registered through its centre for the academic year 2015-16. The Madras High Court had directed KSOU to conduct the exams in April-2016.

But KSOU was unable to conduct the exams as the study centre was out of its jurisdictional area. As per University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, such centres are not allowed to conduct any exams outside the state. It may be recalled that UGC has not renewed KSOU’s affiliation as it was operating study centres outside its jurisdictional area.

“As we did not implement the Madras High Court order in April, we received a contempt notice too. Later, we informed the court about jurisdictional control and recently the court issued an order directing us to conduct the exams within Karnataka. Following the order, we scheduled exams from Wednesday (November 16),” said KSOU Vice-Chancellor Prof D Shivalingaiah.

Even after the circular about the examination date and time table was issued by the PG collaborator in Chennai, only one candidate wrote the examination. KSOU is conducting the exam at GT Institute on Magadi Road, a centre recognised by it.

“We have complete control over the exam. The question paper is set by us, custodians are appointed by the university and we have CCTVs monitoring the examination to prevent any kind of malpractice. This has turned away many candidates from the exams,” said a KSOU official.

“There were centres which allowed mass copying and impersonation. Now, with the UGC directive not to extend courses outside jurisdiction, we are not considering any admissions. But, as these candidates registered with the Chennai collaborator in 2014-15 and the exams were scheduled for 2015-16, we told the court that we can conduct exams only in Karnataka. There are one or two exceptional cases who missed the exams due to accommodation and transportation issues.

But a majority of them did not turn up only because they will not be allowed to indulge in any kind of malpractice,” added the official.

There was no exam on Thursday due to Kanaka Jayanti.

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