Students for external PG courses to be filtered,no change for UG

This decision was taken in special meeting of the management council convened by the UoP V-C Wasudeo Gade Saturday. The report of the special committee,constituted under Senate member Nandkumar Nikam to look into the regulations of external admissions,was also tabled during the meeting. Experts are of the opinion that the move can result in a dip in the number of external students.

The varsity awards graduate degrees such as BA and B.Com and post-graduate degrees such as MA,M.Com,M.Sc (Maths),MA (Maths) and LLM for external students.

“We are trying to streamline the student flow and also trying to evenly distribute students in the colleges affiliated to the university. The undergraduate and post-graduate admissions will have an annual pattern and will commence soon,” Gade told Newsline.

Clarifying that there would be no condition of a three-year mandatory gap to qualify as an external student,V-C said that while fees of some undergraduate courses will be lowered,that of some post-graduate courses will go up.

Meanwhile,different forums and student unions,who had been campaigning against the possible closure of external admissions,have welcomed the development. “We welcome the move by the UoP to continue with the external system. The decision is delayed but it will protect the interests of students. We also expect that any reform in the external exam system must be introduced after considering the views of all sections of the education community,” said Dhananjay Kulkarni of Vidyarthi Vikas Manch.