BRAOU to stop scholarships to SC/ST students

HYDERABAD: Amid different concerns and complaints, Dr BR Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) will conduct its 19th convocation on Friday. About 48,188 students of academic years 2009-10 and 2010-11, apart from 119 prisoners, will be awarded their degrees, diplomas and certificates by UGC chairman Prof Ved Prakash.Along with the ambitious online course repository being planned by the university, it has to put the house in order, starting with submission of application to the Distance Education Council (DEC) for extending its recognition which expires next year.“The issues will be taken up one at a time,” said Vice-Chancellor Dr P Prakash at a press conference here on Tuesday. He clarified that second-year examinations for four post-graduation programmes which were postponed in December due to non-availability of course material on time, will be conducted on May 21.The scholarships provided to SC/ST students pursuing undergraduate programme at the university will be stopped from the coming academic year. “There has been no release of funds from the state government though we had applied last year for the reimbursement of tuition fee for BC students. Due to heavy loss incurred by the varsity, we will be stopping the scholarship scheme and focus on concessions for students instead,” said registrar Prof C Venkataiah.NEW COURSES ON OFFEREight new courses will be introduced in the academic session 2012-13 which include M.A in Mass Communication and Public Relations, certificate course in micro-finance as well as anchoring, dubbing and voice over as well as four PG Diploma programmes including museology and fresh water pearl culture technology.Over 51,500 candidates, including 70 inmates, from different jails attended the eligibility test for admission to the new academic session held on April 15.“We will start a skill development training programme for youth in conjunction with the Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu (RYK). Training will be imparted for a period of 1-6 months in industrial automation, airconditioning, refrigeration and soft skills development under the scheme,” said the registrar.