THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As a major relief to students, who are set to join Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programmes after being unable to obtain admission in colleges, the UGC has extended the last date for admission to such courses till December 31.
University of Kerala, the only varsity in the state approved by the UGC to offer such courses, has already received around 20,000 registrations for both under graduate and post-graduate distance programmes as on November 30.
“We had closed the online admission window on November 30 as per the UGC admission schedule. But since admission to regular colleges are still going on, we had requested the UGC to extend the deadline for a month,” said a university official.
Usually, students opt for distance education programmes only after admissions to courses in regular colleges are completed. Since the results of Save A Year (SAY) and supplementary exams are pending, the varsity expects more enrolments once these results are out.
After registering for the ODL programmes through the website www.sde.keralauniversity.ac.in, students have time till January 5 to submit the original certificates, the varsity informed.