Chennai: University of Madras has stopped admissions to eight undergraduate and postgraduate courses this year as it awaits extension of approval from the University Grants Commission’s Distance Education Bureau (DEB). The UG courses include fine arts, sociology, French and geography, while the PG courses include journalism and communication, Christian studies and geography. The Institute of Distance Education (IDE) used to offer 16 UG courses and 22 PG courses.
Admission to distance-mode programmes started in June. However, students complained that the university did not admit students for popular programmes such as sociology, French and geography this year.
“Of the 38 UG and PG programmes offered by IDE, eight courses were due for extension of approval for the 2026-27 academic year. DEB asked the university to rename IDE as the Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE) in compliance with UGC’s regulations.
Now, it has another query about appointing a full-time director to IDE,” said B Devamainthan, director (in charge), IDE. “The university prepared a reply, and we are expecting an extension of approval from DEB in a few days. We will start admissions to these programmes after getting approval,” he said.
The university has been functioning without a vice-chancellor for three years. “The university cannot appoint a full-time director to IDE without a vice-chancellor. It has to invite applications and appoint a full-time director,” a professor said.
This year, the university enrolled 12,000 students in UG, PG and diploma programmes. In the two admission sessions last year, it enrolled more than 30,000 students. The university’s MBA programmes attracted more students.
