Mangalore University to ban mobile phones

Mangalore, 27 Aug 2014: Mangalore University has decided to strictly implement a standing order on ban on use of mobile phones by students on its PG campuses at Konaje here and Chikka Aluvara in Kodagu and its two constituent colleges — University College here and FMKM Cariappa College in Madikeri.

 

Faculty on these campuses too will have to be cautious in using mobiles on campus and limit it to their staff room, vice-chancellor K Byrappa said here on Tuesday.

 

On the sidelines of the inauguration of the MCom evening course at University College, he said students will have to keep their phones switched off in the classroom, library and laboratories. They can use it on the campus, he said, adding that action will be taken against students flouting the ban. Faculty too cannot take cellphones to classrooms, he said.

 

Noting that mobile phones are a major source of distraction for students and faculty, the VC said the university had issued similar directives in the past, except that it was not being followed. Sathyanarayana Mallipatna, principal, University College, said the college has also banned students from using camera phones on campus and teachers and students have been instructed not to use cellphones during academic hours.

 

Referring to security measures, the VC said the university PG campuses and its constituent colleges will soon get digital CCTV cameras. "We have scrapped an earlier tender called for analogue CCTV cameras," VC said, adding that all public areas of the campuses and the colleges will be placed under surveillance. The new system will offer greater clarity, he said.

 

Inaugurating the course, the VC said this is a precursor to starting a full-fledged evening college next academic year. "We want to feel the response of the locals to such courses which will help employed persons improve their academic standing," he said, adding the university will also start degree certificate and diploma courses in foreign languages for those wanting to work abroad.