Please check out and beware of open university degrees !They are not eligible for consideration for a job, if the open university degree has been obtained without formal schooling and first-degree.
In a landmark judgement delivered by the Madras High Court which ruled that a Maters degree obtained without acquiring either the three year degree or the first-degree without tweleve years of schooling cannot be considererd valid for employment.
According to Juctice P.K.Mishra and K.K.Sasidharan unless the candidate has been successful in the first-degree course of three year duration, she is not eligible for admission to the master’s course.As per UGC norms,under Section 26 (1)(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, no student shall be eligible for admission to the first degree course through non-formal/distance education unless he has completed 12 years schooling.Any Master’s degree obtained in controvention of Regulation 2 of the UGC Regulations, such masters degree cannot be termed a valid degree for employment.
The victim was one Ramesh who had been appointed as Principal of MGR film and television institute,Taramani.He qualified for the masters degree from Annamalai University.
It is also a moot question how UGC has allowed and gave recognition to the Annamalai University to begin such masters degree programmes and how the concerned authorities appointed the person as the principal without going through the eligibility cretaria.There is something wrong or fishy with the procedure in conferring recognition to the Masters degree programmes.
What a terrible and unfair decision. If somebody has reached the standards to pass a degree/master’s course, that should be acceptable; how are they supposed to suddenly get 12 years of schooling if for whatever reason, they haven’t had 12 years of schooling?