Mysuru:  A total of 17,512 candidates of the 2012-13 batch of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) will be conferred degrees at the 16th Convocation on Mar.5 at 11 am at the Convocation Hall in the Muktagangothri campus, said KSOU Vice-Chancellor Prof. D. Shivalingaiah.

He was addressing a press conference at the KSOU premises yesterday and said that out of this, women far outnumbered men with 12,148 women being conferred degrees while only 5,364 are men.

There are 10 Ph.D holders, seven gold medallists and eight candidates who will be given cash prizes. In the Post Graduate (MA), 1,476 will be conferred degrees and 11,423 will get UG degrees. In Social Science PG and UG, there are 1,414 candidates; M.Com – 806, MBA – 681, B.Com – 1,133, B.Ed (Special) – 287 and in Science, Technology and Information Science  PG and UG – 282 candidates, he said.

B.Ed. & MBA course: KSOU had invited applications for the 2019 B.Ed. course for which there are 500 seats. It received 6,398 applications and the total money collected was Rs.63.98 lakh and the admission fee collected was Rs.1.25 crore.

In the admission for MBA-2019 that was announced, the University received 557 applications and collected Rs.5.57 lakh, while the admission fee collected was Rs.50,89,900, he said.

The admissions are being done category wise, where retired soldiers, physically-challenged, reservation for women, SC, ST have all been taken into consideration, the VC added.

Prof. Shivalingaiah also announced that the notification for Ph.D programmes will be announced shortly as also Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) will be introduced. There will also be changes in the syllabus and the exam booklet too will be changed.

National Academy Depository: The National Academy Depository (NAD) will house all marks cards and certificates. Bar code system has been introduced and the marks cards will contain name, registration numbers, details of the programmes, month and year of the degree, class obtained and other information, he said.

National Assessment and Accreditation Committee (NAAC), Bengaluru, Director, Prof. S.C. Sharma will be the chief guest and deliver the Convocation address. Higher Education Minister and Pro-Chancellor G.T. Devegowda will preside.

The degrees for the 2013-14 batch is also under process and once the approval comes, the Convocation for this period will be held shortly, he added.

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala, who is also the Chancellor of KSOU, however, is not attending the Convocation, he said.

Registrar Prof. B. Ramesh, Registrar (Evaluation) Dr. M.S. Ramanand and Finance Officer Khader Pasha were present at the press meet.  

Free education for martyr Guru’s wife Kalavathi

The Board of Management of KSOU has taken a decision to offer free education to S. Kalavathi, wife of CRPF soldier from Mandya H. Guru, who was martyred in  the Pulwama terror attack, said KSOU VC Prof. D. Shivalingaiah.

She had taken admission at the KSOU Regional Centre in Ramanagaram for a Master’s Degree in Political Science after passing her degree from a college in Kanakapura. This decision was taken as Kalavathi’s husband had sacrificed his life for the nation, the VC said.