Paramedical and other medical education courses offered by the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) through distance education system are nothing but fraud, said medical education minister SA Ramadas. KSOU is offering these courses without proper sanction from the Distance Education Council (DEC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India and other relevant authorities. Legal action will be initiated against KSOU after discussing the issue with chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda, he said.
The DEC had issued a show cause notice to KSOU stating that it is offering professional education without DEC’s approval. It also threatened to withdraw recognition to KSOU if it fails to rectify the mistakes. Further, it issued a memorandum stating that KSOU is indulging in illegal activities, misleading students and violating its own act, he said.
diploma fraud
Instead of rectifying its mistakes, KSOU threatened to file a defamation case against the director of DEC. The vice-chancellor and registrar of the university had misled the governor, who is its chancellor, by issuing statutes. KSOU is also hiding the fact that a writ petition is pending for disposal at the Delhi High court on offering professional education through distance education mode, he said.
The varsity has signed a MoU with 95 private organisations by flouting the rules and around 1 lakh students are studying in various bogus institutions without being aware that they are putting their future at risk. The KSOU has approached DEC to give recognition to 422 subjects. But DEC had turned down the request. Despite that, KSOU started offering courses in paramedical education which included diploma in lab technology, diploma in cardiac technician and diploma in radiography assistance, he said.
“Once I got to know about these illegal courses, I constituted a two-member committee to submit a report on the legality of offering such courses through distance mode. The committee observed that the university flouted the rules at various levels.
Based on the committee report, I am writing a letter to chief minister, governor, UGC, DEC, AICTE, MCI and others to take appropriate action against the university officials.” The minister said the medical education department would come out with an advertisement stating that the department should not be held responsible for offering paramedical courses through distance education mode.
On whether his department would file a criminal complaint against KSOU officials, he said: “Higher education department comes under the chief minster. I will write a letter requesting him to take action against the KSOU officials for putting the future of students at risk.”
Source : dnaindia
