Thiruvananthapuram: Admissions to the Sree Narayana Guru Open University for the 2022–23 academic year will commence as soon as the University Grants Commission gives it approval to conduct courses. This was announced by the State Minister of Higher Education Dr R Bindu in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

The announcement is expected to assuage hundreds of candidates who wish to pursue higher education on distance mode.

Minister Bindu said the government had barred other universities from inviting applications for private registrations this year as it is hopeful about the UGC nod.

She added that the government would consider allowing other universities to conduct courses via distance mode/private registration if UGC’s Distance Education Bureau doesn’t approve such courses from 2022–23 onwards.

"I hope the courses would receive UGC’s approval this academic year itself," she noted as she replied to legislator TV Ibrahim’s query.

The Sree Narayana Guru Open University has applied to secure approval for each course in the Open Distance Learning mode.