Calicut University says decision to scrap Arabic, Master's courses in Lakshadweep wasn't theirs. Who was behind it?

The decision was taken by the university syndicate at a joint review meeting that was held on July 12. Recently, the centre gave a nod to Pondicherry University to start an off-campus centre 
Calicut University (Pic: Twitter)
Calicut University (Pic: Twitter)

The Registrar of the Calicut University on Tuesday said that the university did not make the decision to cancel teaching master's degree courses in its Lakshadweep centre, but rather only agreed to what the Lakshadweep administration had asked. "There were news reports saying that Calicut University had discontinued teaching master's degree courses in its Lakshadweep centre. However, this was only after the administration had asked us to stop these courses, citing low enrolment," said Calicut University's Registrar Dr E K Sathish.

Since the new administrator Praful Khoda Patel took charge in Lakshadweep, the island has seen a number of policy changes, causing a lot of hue and cry among the residents. This includes change in quarantine norms and the mid-day meal menu in schools. 

The decision was taken by the university syndicate at a joint review meeting that was held on July 12. "These meetings are held every three years and the syndicate merely has the right to agree or disagree with the proposals put forward by the island's administration. The same thing happened this year too," said the Registrar, adding, "The university and the syndicate do not have the power to demand that the administration to continue these courses." The university had three off-campus centres in Lakshadweep, which were started in 2005. The administration funds its running and provides the salary to the staff. At the same time, the syndicate will be requesting the administration to continue the BA Arabic course alone, since the course comes under the jurisdiction of the university's UNESCO chair

He dismissed claims that said that only Arabic courses had been discontinued and added that all master's courses, along with BA Arabic and BA Political Science were discontinued. Interestingly, recently, the centre gave a nod to Pondicherry University to start an off-campus centre on the island — which does beg the question of whether demand is really low or if demand for certain courses run by particular universities are low.

While we are yet to access the data on students who have enrolled in the course over the last few years, Rasheed Ahammed P, a CU syndicate member on Thursday wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calicut demanding continuation of the BA and MA Arabic courses. "Up until now, BA Arabic was among the various programs offered by the University Lakshadweep Study Centres, and not surprisingly the enrollment to the program has been quite impressive through the years. Unfortunately, however, in the joint meeting attended by the representatives of both the University and the Island Administration, it was resolved to drop the BA Arabic program from the list," says the letter. He adds that the decision is against the general interest of the Lakshadweep community.

Incidentally, the MA Arabic course seems to have been dithering. A statement by Calicut University says that no student had been enrolled to study MA Arabic in the academic year 2020-22. While one student enrolled for the course in 2019-21, they did not score passing marks.

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