MADURAI: Responding to educationists' claim that the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) had introduced undergraduate (UG) courses on the varsity campus without obtaining approval from the academic council and senate, the varsity vice-chancellor (V-C), J Kumar, has said the approval from the council of the department concerned was sufficient to begin UG courses.
The MKU had begun accepting applications for UG courses on the varsity campus for the academic year 2022-23, on June 25 and the application deadline is July 7. Speaking to TNIE, Save Higher Education Forum Secretary R Murali said the introduction of new courses is a welcome move.
"However, the academic council and senate have not yet approved the courses. It is mandatory to discuss the feasibility of introducing UG courses, and the fee structure announced is also higher than that in other government arts and science colleges in the State. Also, if postgraduate professors and research guides begin to take UG classes, the PG students will be affected. On the other hand, if the MKU recruits guest lecturers for the UG courses, it would add to the varsity's financial burden," he said.
It may be noted that the MKU had a few months ago terminated the services of 136 Casual Labourers (CLRs) and Consolidated Pay Casual Labourers (CPCLRs), citing financial crisis in the university. Responding to the claims, V-C Kumar said there was no need to obtain approval for UG courses from the academic council and senate. "The main objective of introducing UG courses is to motivate youth to identify opportunities in their interested fields. If they study UG on the campus itself, they continue further research and studies here. We have already received over 1,000 applications for the UG courses," he said.