Kasaragod: Kannur University's one-minute video promoting the new four-year undergraduate programme (FYUGP) on social media is coming under attack from a section of teachers, who accused the university of relying on 'campus love' to attract students.

Universities and colleges in Kerala are rolling out the four-year undergraduate programme on July 1, and Kannur University's promo video landed in teachers' WhatsApp groups on Wednesday, May 29.

The ad captures the last day of higher secondary school (Plus 2), where a female student walks to a boy and a girl and throws a fist full of red powder at them, amid loud cheers from students. The next shot is of the boy and the girl -- with colours on the shirt -- sitting on the secluded stairs of the school. "Two years was not enough, was it? If three more years are added, we could have studied together for five years," says the boy.
"Isn't that a bit too much?" quips the girl.
"Then how about adding two more years and making it four?" the boy yearns.
That's when the girl who threw the colour at them makes a re-entry. "You want four years? That is possible," she says.
How, asks the boy, 'honours degree', she replies.
"What does that mean," asks the boy.
"That means you can stay together for four years," she says. An expectant smile blooms on the boy's female friend. The second girl then goes on to explain the four-year honours degree programme.

Kannur University's ad is subtle compared with the promo put out by  Nirmala College in Muvattupuzha. In the Nirmala College promo, a male student reading Muttathu Varkey's tearjerker 'Inapravukal' daydreams of winning his love in the library, walking hand in hand amid the bookshelves, and reading books together. His reverie was interrupted when the librarian knocked on the desk to indicate the time's up.

The admission promo ended with the words: 'Reading opens your mind and ignites the imagination. Nirmala College Muvattupuzha welcomes you to the world of literature. Come, read and live..."

The video went viral and attracted criticism from some quarters and on May 12, the college put out a statement apologising for the ad "produced by an agency that handled advertisements in social media".
The short video seemingly legitimising a lax atmosphere in the college is far from reality, said Fr Pius Malekandathil, the college manager. "This is not Nirmala College and this is not the cultural and moral profile that we struggle hard to maintain in the college. I am sorry that this video has hurt the sentiments of thousands of Nirmalites, academicians, including the general public," he said and urged people not to share the promo.
According to reports, a former student produced the video for the college, and present students acted in it.

A Kannur University PR official said the promo was a conversation among friends. "Friends would also like to study together," the person said. The university brought out a 20-minute video on FYUGP featuring Vice Chancellor S Bijoy Nandan and Registrar Joby K Jose but it did not find traction among students, he said. "So we decided to bring out a short video. This one was the first of the five in a series of short videos made by the students of the campus," he said.

Though not as explicit as Nirmala College's, Kannur University's promo was branded as 'painkili' (sentimental pulp) by the Kerala Private College Teachers' Association (KPCTA). "The painkili promo exposes the poverty of ideas in the university. The Vice-Chancellor should inquire into the process of making promos and protect the dignity of the university," KPCTA's Kannur Regional Committee said in a statement.

However, a left-leaning assistant professor questioned the narrative of KPCTA. "Where is love in this ad? I saw a conversation among three students," he said.
Another assistant professor said the underlying theme of the ad was love. "It should have been syllabus and higher possibility of getting a job," he said.
KPCTA said the ad was an attempt to cover up the university's failure in preparing the syllabus for the four-year programme.

The discussion in a WhatsApp group of teachers also threw light on their mindset. "By making the undergraduate programme four years, students can now flirt on the corridors for four years, play more Holi, and sit together (I won't say to study)," said an assistant professor in Kozhikode, tagging the Kannur University's video.
Yet another teacher sarcastically commented that it was a "holistic & romantic way of education".

However, one assistant professor of an aided college said that the agencies who made the ads for Kannur University and Nirmala College should be appreciated. "In campus-oriented movies, heroes and heroines are always draped in cliche beauty concepts. These ads have shattered that. The two agencies have looked beyond the colours of the skin and selected the main characters who are confident, smart, and energetic.
This change is an example of Kerala society. Let this change spread across Kerala's art and cultural space," he said.