THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The All Kerala Private College Teachers' Association (AKPCTA) has come down heavily on the Kerala University move to allow a private institution in the Gulf to run a distance education centre to conduct courses of the university as a franchisee.

In a statement here on Saturday, AKPCTA general secretary R. Mohanakumar said attempts were on at a frenetic pace at the university to grant permission to the private group to run the franchisee training centre before the new Government assumes office. A three-member team led by the Vice Chancellor and another three-member team led by the Planning Director had visited the United Arab Emirates to prepare the ground for granting clearance for the distance education centre in the private sector.

The first team had visited UAE on the expense of a private institution and without informing the Indian Embassy there. The second team had recommended the names of two institutions for setting up the distance education centre. Finally, the university decided to grant clearance for the institution in which the party that controlled the Education portfolio in the Oommen Chandy Government had an interest. Information available from the university suggested that the Memorandum of Understanding with the institution was signed after the third stage of polling, Prof. Mohanakumar said.

He said the decision to allow franchisee courses would hurt the image of the university and may well result in malpractices. The University Grants Commission, he pointed out, had instructed universities not to allow franchisee and off-campus courses as that would bring down the quality of education. Kerala University has taken the decision to allow private distance learning centre in the UAE ignoring this directive and violating the stipulation that foreign universities should obtain prior sanction from the Ministry of Higher Education of the UAE Government before offering such courses.

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