Thiruvananthapuram: The Cabinet has approved the ordinance to bring all distance education and private registration of undergraduate and postgraduate courses under the purview of Sree Narayana Guru Open University.

Once the governor signs the Ordinance and a notification is issued, other universities in Kerala will not be able to conduct distance education or private registration even if they have the approval of the UGC. This is being done on the lines of the affiliation of engineering colleges being shifted to the Technical University and those of medical colleges to University of Health Sciences.

Students can study and graduate online from anywhere in the world through Sree Narayana Guru Open University. For the first time in the state, there will be a Cyber Council at the Open University on the lines of those in foreign universities. This council of cyber experts will make the final decision on all cyber matters, including computerisation of the university.

Environmental Studies and legal studies (LLB) are the new courses to be added to the existing 17 undergraduate courses to be offered by the university. The PG courses in the two streams will also be started later.

The university will have four regional centres, but it is not clear where they will be situated.

As the university will start functioning on October 2, appointments to key posts such as vice-chancellor, pro vice-chancellor, registrar, controller and finance officer will be made before that.

The distance education departments of Kerala, MG, Calicut and Kannur universities will come under the new university. The lab facilities of government colleges will be utilised for conducting courses in science subjects. Agreements will be made with aided colleges in this regard.

In addition to degree and PG courses, a number of certificate courses and skills development courses will also be offered. Training in foreign languages such as Chinese, German and Arabic will also be provided.

Those who couldn’t complete their education and those who are doing various jobs can join the Open University for studies.

As with other universities, this university will also have the senate, syndicate, academic council and the board of studies.