Due to poor enrollment, the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) of the University of Madras has temporarily wound up over a dozen diploma and certificate courses and returned the course fees to the students.

According to IDE officials, during 2022-23, for which admissions were held in June last, 18 courses (10 certificate and 8 diploma courses) have only single-digit enrolments. IDE director, S Aravindhan, said it is not economically viable to run the courses for just two to three students, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

As per IDE data, certificate courses in Ecommerce, Indian Christianity, Management, and Online teaching had only 2, 1, 2 and 3 admissions respectively. Similarly, the certificate course in scriptures and Interpretation, Taxation and Voice Training managed to attract only 1,5 and 2 students, and certificate courses in Police Administration, Written Tamil and Naturopathy and Yogic Science had only 2,3 and 6 students respectively.

Diploma courses like Functional Arabic, Teaching Methodology in Music, Hospital Management, Intellectual Property Rights, Management, Marketing Management and Systems Management also have very poor enrolment, stated the report in The New Indian Express.

Established in 1857, University of Madras is one of the oldest varsities in the country.