Calicut University to launch online courses in January next year

Calicut University (CU) is likely to launch online courses from January 2026.

According to official sources, the university’s Centre for Online and Distance Education was planning to launch at least nine undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses this October. A notification was also proposed to be issued this month. However, when top officials of the centre recently met UGC officials in person to seek permission, they were told that the deadline had already passed.

The UGC normally allows universities to launch such courses either in January or July. An official said on Saturday (September 6, 2025) that Calicut University had not been able to complete the procedures by July. “We are planning to get the permission soon to launch them by January,” he added.

The centre had stopped running at least 25 UGC-approved distance education undergraduate and postgraduate courses after the Sreenarayanaguru Open University began offering similar programmes a few years ago. The university reportedly incurred revenue losses running into crores as a result. It also caused hardships to thousands of students from northern Kerala districts who had depended on the centre. At the time, university officials had claimed that students would instead be offered online courses. The plan now is to increase the number of courses in the coming years.