Bengaluru, May 28 (IANS): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan on Thursday directed the higher education department to take measures to increase open university enrolment.

"Open universities need to play a very significant role in increasing the rate of admission to higher education courses. I have instructed the officials concerned to formulate a plan of action," said Narayan in a statement.

He gave the directives on Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) after participating in the state level assistant professors qualifying examination (K-Set) training programme online.

Though there are many allegations such as money laundering, Narayan said an action plan should be devised to get rid of that stigma.

In addition to providing better opportunities for education, he also called for a model system in open universities with emphasis on transparency in governance.

The Deputy Chief Minister appreciated students for continuing preparing for exams online despite the Covid pandemic-induced lockdown.

"It is commendable that those who are preparing for the competitive examination during the lockdown induced by Corona, especially those from rural areas, continue to train online," he said.

He said the Karnataka State Open University Competitive Testing Training Centre has enlisted a number of subject matter experts, providing students with all the facilities and training for K-Set.