No decision on UoP’s external admissions,students in a fix

“Ankita was reluctant to leave her job but I did not want her to discontinue her studies. I asked her to pursue Bachelor of Commerce degree course as an external student from the university. She managed to procure her leaving certificate from her junior college and did not apply in any of the open universities. But,the external admission department of UoP is closed and we have no clue when a decision will be taken,” Ankita’s mother told Newsline.

Shashikant Tikote,a senate member,said,“Last year,the entire admission process was over by August. But this year,it has not even started. Earlier,it was stated there should be a three-year gap in education to qualify as an external student. Following this,we had protested and we were told that the clause has been removed. We are worried about the delay in admissions and we need the department to start functioning at the earliest.”

He added,“We also want the exam fee to be reduced. Earlier,it was between Rs1,500 to Rs 2,000. But now it has been increased to Rs 7,000. We hope,when the report is out on August 29,all our issues are addressed.”

The university had stipulated a three year gap in education to qualify as an external student after the provision was being misused. “The external student concept is for people such as housewives,farmers etc who had to leave their education for reasons best known to them. But,now everyone who does not want to study in a regular college is taking admission as an external student. Hence,the entire purpose of such a provision is lost. The government does not appoint extra teachers for external students and hence the teachers are overworked when number of external students is higher than the regular students,” said a UoP official.

Nandakumar Nikam,president,principal’s forum,UoP,and also the head of the committee for external admission,said,”There will be a meeting of the committee members on August 29 where we will finalise the report. The report will be discussed and the decision will be taken at a management council meeting scheduled for September 17.”