Engg students to get another chance

NEWDELHI: Days after the University Grants Commission (UGC) suspended the degrees awarded to students of four deemed universities, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has started the process of registration of such students who will get an opportunity to write a test following which their degrees will stand validated.

The AICTE and UGC on Sunday started the registration of candidates enrolled in deemedto-be universities from 2001 to 2005 and were awarded degrees/ diplomas in engineering through distance mode. Candidates have been given time till January 15 to register for the test. The degrees will remain suspended till they clear it, officials said.

Officials said that the entrance exam will be conducted in May or June.

“All the degrees of the students remain suspended. The last date for registration is January 15 and students need to register online. A written as well as practical examination will be conducted for the students,” reads the public notice issued by AICTE.

Four institutes — JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Rajasthan, Advanced Studies in Education, Rajasthan (IASE), Allahabad Agricultural Institute, (AAI), and Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Tamil Nadu, (VMRF) — have been conducting distance engineering programmes without necessary approvals, including that from the UGC or AICTE.

The Supreme Court last month had suspended the degrees awarded by them between 2001 and 2005 while the degrees awarded through distance learning by the deemed universities to students admitted after 2005 stand cancelled.

The universities have been directed by the court to return the tuition fee and other expenditure incurred by the students.

The Supreme Court had also restrained “all deemed-to-be universities to carry on any courses in distance education mode from the academic session 2018-2019 onwards unless and until it is permissible to conduct such courses in distance education mode and specific permissions are granted by the concerned statutory/regulatory authorities in respect of each of those courses and unless the offcampus centres/study centres are individually inspected and found adequate by the concerned statutory authorities”.

AICTE rules mandate that engineering degrees cannot be offered through distance education mode.