Sreenarayanaguru Open University (SGOU) is a public

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

open university The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

located in

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, established in 2020 by ''The Sreenarayanaguru Open University Act, 2021'' (Kerala Act No 1 of 2021). The first open university in Kerala, it was approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2021. It is the only

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

in Kerala to offer

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

, with its establishment, all the distance education courses offered by state-run universities—

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

, Mahatma Gandhi University,

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a State ownership, state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to ...

, and

Kannur University Kannur University is a multi-campus public university established in 1996 to provide development of higher education in Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad districts of Kerala, India. It serves the region of North Malabar. It was established after the ...

came under the administrative control and purview of the new university. The university has been named after

Narayana Guru Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual ...

and has its headquarters at

Kureepuzha Kureepuzha is a peninsula region in the city of Kollam, Kerala, India, located on the shore of Ashtamudi Lake. Kureepuzha is sharing borders with the village of Neeravil in the north. It is one among the 55 councils of Kollam Municipal Corporati ...

. The university was established by the promulgation of an 45th Ordinance of 2020 to that effect by Hon'ble governor of Kerala on 25 September 2020 and was dedicated to the public by Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan,

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Fol ...

, on 2 October 2020 in a function held at Kollam. Dr. P M Mubarak Pasha was appointed as the first vice-chancellor and Dr. S V Sudheer as the first pro-vice-chancellor of the university.

Schools of study

The university shall have the following schools of study: #School of Humanities and Social Sciences #School of Sciences #School of Languages #School of Law, Business Studies and Development Studies #School of Communications and Information Sciences #School of Interdisciplinary, Multi disciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies #School of Vocational Education and Training

References

{{Narayana Guru Public universities Universities in Kerala

Open universities in India Universities and colleges established in 2020 2020 establishments in India