Relief Of AU's Students
The students who got admission for the B. Sc. and M. Sc. courses of Anna University, Coimbatore, can now heave a sigh of relief. The university has received a communication from Higher Education Secretary K. Ganesan to “grant affiliation to B. Sc. and M. Sc. courses as per conditions.”There was a lot of unrest and confusion among parents and students over the ratification of the enrolment. This was because the students were admitted even after the university had forwarded a copy of the resolution passed by its Syndicate directing it to refrain from admitting students in these disciplines. This was a fall-out of Bharathiar University Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam’s complaint that the seats in these disciplines remained vacant in the colleges affiliated to his university.Despite many representations, the university did not clarify whether or not the admissions would be ratified, and the imbroglio dragged on, to the dismay of students. “As soon as the representations came in from colleges, a three-member committee was formed to look into the matter. Once its recommendations were approved by the Syndicate, they were sent to the department on May 30. As there has been no concrete decision from the Government, I was not able to respond,” Vice-Chancellor R. Radhakrishnan told.
The July 1 communication from the Higher Education Department accepted the committee’s recommendations and requested the Vice-Chancellor to take up the matter with the university’s Syndicate to notify the colleges after approval. So, the Vice-Chancellor, after getting a copy of the letter on Saturday, placed it before the Syndicate for approval.“The colleges will be notified, and the affiliation process will begin shortly. The colleges will offer 18 B. Sc. and 20 M. Sc. programmes. To help those that have not applied, the admission process will be extended up to August 31,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said.
The Vice-Chancellor said the university had the authority to conduct any course related to engineering and technology. “Only 40 colleges of the university are offering the degree and postgraduate courses. Since the university was formed in Coimbatore, the affiliation for all these courses rests with it. New affiliation has been given to 15 colleges. Now that the communication says the university can conduct B. Sc. and M. Sc. courses, a new blanket affiliation will be extended to all colleges offering these courses,” he said.
As for Bharathiar University offering undergraduate courses such as the one in information technology, Mr. Radhakrishnan said: “As an arts and science university, its decision to offer courses in technology is questionable. Still it is offering them. But it should not stop us from offering these courses. They should be able to attract students in science and arts disciplines. Periyar University has stopped offering technology-related courses.”
