Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala government has allowed candidates who have completed ITI and Polytechnic courses to enrol in undergraduate programmes without clearing the Plus Two examination, Minister Roji M John said on Thursday.

The decision, taken on the recommendation of the Kerala State Higher Education Council, has been implemented in accordance with the University Grants Commission's National Credit Framework, a statement said.

Under the revised norms, candidates holding an Industrial Training Institute certificate will be eligible for admission to the first year of a four-year undergraduate programme, while those with a three-year Polytechnic diploma can seek lateral entry into the second year of a degree course, the statement said.

ITI-qualified candidates will have to complete the prescribed language course to become eligible for admission.

The revised eligibility criteria mean that candidates who have completed Class 10 and subsequently obtained an ITI certificate or Polytechnic diploma will no longer require a Plus Two qualification for admission to undergraduate programmes, the statement said.

The Higher Education Department issued the order following directions from John, it added.

Separately, Higher Education Minister Roji M John visited former Chief Secretary and the first Vice Chancellor of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, R Ramachandran Nair, at his residence here.

During the meeting, Ramachandran Nair urged the government to facilitate the publication of Theerthapadapuranam, described as the world's largest Sanskrit work authored by A V Sankara Warrier.

The work was submitted to the university in 1999 after more than three years of effort, the statement said.

He submitted suggestions to the minister regarding the proposed unified university system.