Kannur: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has left students scratching their heads after mistakenly listing Kannur Central Prison as one of the six examination centres in the district for its upcoming term-end exams.

The confusion came to light when a few sceptical candidates, puzzled by their choice of centre, decided to call the prison to check whether its gates would actually open for the exams starting June 2. The answer, unsurprisingly, was a firm no. Unlike previous terms, IGNOU had clearly stated in the examination form that "no request for change of exam centre will be entertained in any case".

"We are in a spot because IGNOU's portal does not have an option to change the exam centre and the prison said it was not a centre either," said a third-semester MBA student who had selected the prison as her exam venue.

The MBA student, specialising in human resource management, said IGNOU had listed six centres in Kannur, and she picked the prison because it was the only one that allowed her to write all six subject exams at the same location. "I didn’t want to shuttle between centres for the month-long examination," she said. She did not expect the wrong'un from IGNOU.

The other listed centres in Kannur are Sree Narayana College, Thottada; Sree Narayana Guru College, Veerpad; Concord Arts and Science College, Nayattupara on Irikkur Road; Mary Matha Arts and Science College, Alakode; and MM Knowledge Arts and Science College, Taliparamba. "In December, I wrote my second-semester exams at Nirmalagiri College, Kuthuparamba. This time, it was not listed,” she said.

To be sure, IGNOU does conduct examinations in prisons — but only for inmates. If inmates choose a centre outside the prison, their applications are redirected back to the correctional facility where they are lodged. But usually, the prison option does not appear for regular students.

Kannur Central Prison Superintendent K Venu confirmed that while the prison is indeed an IGNOU centre, it is strictly for inmates. "The prison is not open for other students," he told Onmanorama, adding that he got a few calls double-checking the situation.

News reports from northern India also indicate that students across regions have raised concerns about fewer examination centres this time, and certain eligible subjects not appearing in the online examination form, preventing them from paying fees.

The online portal for exam registration opened on March 14, and the deadline to register without a late fee is April 20.

Repeated calls to the IGNOU Regional Centre at Vadakara in Kozhikode, under which Kannur falls, went unanswered. When students and parents visited the centre in person, they were told to email their complaints to the IGNOU registrar at registrarsed@ignou.ac.in and termendexam@ignou.ac.in; and to the Vadakara Regional Centre at revatakara@ignou.ac.in. Hardly a relief for those who opted to write the exams in prison.

"If I miss the exam this time, I can write the third semester only in December, delaying my MBA by six months," the student quoted above said. But even after the error was brought to IGNOU's notice, it has not yet removed Kannur Prison as an examination centre from its portal.