An Academic Council meeting of Mangalore University on Tuesday, September 27, approved maternity and child care leave for all women students pursuing MPhil and PhD from the varsity. The leave will extend up to 240 days and is in line with the directions of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The students can avail of this leave only once in the entire duration of their higher education, reported TNIE. 

The Academic Council meeting of the MU was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor Dr PS Yadapadithaya. The council approved a proposal regarding maternity leave submitted by a committee headed by Prof Vishwanath and consisting of Prof Kishori Nayak and Prof Shashirekha. This committee met on July 13 to discuss the matter and the subsequent proposal they submitted was approved by the Academic Council. 

In other news, the MU Academic Council today also approved the dual degree programme which allows students to pursue two degrees simultaneously, as proposed by the UGC. Mangalore University Vice-Chancellor Dr PS Yadapadithaya said that the regular students of the varsity can either pursue the courses through Open and Distance Learning (ODL)/Online mode and also through evening education. "They can pursue diploma or graduation under this dual programme as explained by National Education Policy (NEP). The programme will be implemented in the academic year of 2023-24 after we formulate the required statutes and regulations. The programme is not applicable to those who are pursuing a PhD," said the VC.

Prof Dharma, Registrar (Evaluation), addressed allegations of delay in the declaration of results. "If there is a 20% difference in the marks during reevaluation, we will issue a warning to the teaching staff and they have to make 100% reimbursement to the students," he said.