BU Halts Exams, Admissions for BEd Distance-Learning Programme

Sources say distance education centre did not get UGC nod due to poor study material quality

- N DHAMOTHARAN @Coimbatore

NEARLY 100 students are in a spot as Bharathiar University (BU) has halted examinations for its Open Distance Learning (ODL) BEd programme for the 2024-25 academic year after it failed to get mandatory approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC)'s Distance Education Bureau (DEB).

The BU also stopped admissions for the course for the upcoming academic year. Official sources say the examination department of the university refused permission to conduct the ODL BEd exam this year, as its Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE) did not receive approval from the UGC's DEB. 97 students who joined the ODL BEd course in various subjects for the 2024-26 batch are baffled as the university did not hold exams held once a year. Concurrently, exams for the other 15 ODL programmes are being held from July 8 to 20," sources added.

However, P. Chellasamy, Director, CDOE, claimed that they have the UGC-DEB and National Council for Teachers' Education (NCTE) approval to offer the BEd programme.