New Delhi/Dubai, July 26: Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirapalli-based Bharathidasan University has denied closing its distance-learning centre in Dubai and said exams that have been delayed will be held next month.

A university source told IANS that the centre, located at Dubai Knowledge Village, had faced some problems that have now been solved. The source, however, did not specify the problems.

Around 150 students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), many of them non-resident Indians (NRIs), were in a quandary after news appeared that the university has abruptly closed down its Dubai centre.

The centre was run by a Chennai-based firm, Sriram Cybertech Systems (SCS). Knowledge Village officials had also confirmed that the centre was no longer on its premises.

A report in the Khaleej Times newspaper quoted SCS chief executive Joseph Uthupp as saying that the centre had not closed down but was forced to stop its operations after the Knowledge Village refused to renew the rental contract.

"The examinations will be held from Aug 12 to 28. We had a discussion with the university officials and they agreed to conduct the examinations in Dubai," he told the newspaper.

"The examinations will be conducted on the premises of Cosmos Institute (the university's marketing agent in UAE) in Karama. Already, 78 students have filled out the exam forms. All other students can also submit their application forms," he was quoted as saying.

When contacted by IANS, the university source said, "There were some problems with our Dubai centre but these have all been sorted now. We are restarting all our programmes now."

Students pursuing various distance-learning programmes in the centre had complained that their valuable time and money had been wasted following the centre's closure without any examination being held.

"We will be holding special exams for the students in our Dubai centre in August," the university source said.

According to the Khaleej Times report, the affected students were contemplating filing a complaint with the Indian consulate in Dubai.

The Bharathidasan University, named after the famous Tamil poet, is currently celebrating its silver jubilee year. Established in 1982, the university has jurisdiction over seven districts in Tamil Nadu. There are 111 colleges affiliated to it, besides 25 approved institutions.

According to the university website, its Centre for Distance Education offers as many as 66 programmes, including 14 undergraduate, 24 postgraduate and seven diploma and postgraduate diploma courses, besides M. Phil programmes.