The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Extending the reach of distance education

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 05, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Extending the reach of distance education

P. Maruthamuthu

After obtaining his doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Madras in Chennai, he went to the United States as a post-doctoral fellow and worked at the Radiation Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame.

Back in India, he joined as a reader at the Madras University Postgraduate Centre in Tiruchirappalli in 1978. Five years later, he was Professor and Head, Department of Energy at the University of Madras.

He has been a Visiting Professor at institutions in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

On a visit to the Academic Staff College of Bharathiar University,

P. Maruthamuthu, Vice-Chancellor, Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), spoke to

A. A. Michael Raj on distance education and plans for the University.

SOON AFTER taking charge in March last year, Prof. Maruthamuthu undertook a drive to clean up the campus, carry out renovation work and regularise 124 consolidated workers.

"Madurai Kamaraj University is now one of the nine best universities in India," he said.

"A North Indian visitor said that he came to Madurai to visit the Meenakshi Temple - a temple of workship - and MKU - a temple of learning."

A pioneer in distance education, the University has centres in Bahrain, Sharjah, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, besides Singapore.

Another one is likely to come up in Malaysia.

"Anybody can study at these centres. They are not only for persons of Indian origin but also for the natives of the region. We will teach the courses and the Indian embassy will conduct the examinations," he said.

Centres were also likely to come up in Australia, England, Germany and the United States.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) conferred on MKU the status of University with Potential for Excellence (one of nine in India) and made available Rs. 30 crores.

While Rs. 9 crores would go to provide special focus on nano sciences, the rest would go towards "holistic development of the University".

Prof. Maruthamuthu said that he would like to establish two more departments in the University, one for geology and the other for psychology. Also on the anvil were two postgraduate diploma courses in nano sciences, one pertaining to biology and the other to physics and chemistry.

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