Architecture students on shaky ground

JANUARY 27: Students of the reputed Academy of Architecture at Prabhadevi have suddenly discovered that the status of the academy as an a...

JANUARY 27: Students of the reputed Academy of Architecture at Prabhadevi have suddenly discovered that the status of the academy as an autonomous institute and the validity of the course itself are in dispute, thus placing their future in jeopardy. They claim they were 8220;deliberately misled8221; about the five-year Diploma in Architecture course at the time of admission as they had been told it was equivalent to a university degree.

The 37 final year students also say they were horrified to learn that none of them can secure licences from the Council of Architecture to practise as architects if the dispute is not settled soon. Furious with the deception8217;, all 317 students enrolled with the college have been boycotting classes since January 21 to exert pressure on the college authorities. Waving rejection slips from foreign universities to which they had applied for higher studies, students say they have been turned away on the ground that the course is not on par with a university degree.

Despite therebeing no solution immediately in sight, the final year exams are scheduled for April/May. The problems have arisen since the course, started in 1994 after the college was granted autonomy by the Directorate of Technical Education DTE, Government of Maharashtra, has not yet been notified in the official gazette of the central government8217;s Ministry of Human Resources Development HRD. Without waiting to be notified, the college, set up in 1955, however proceeded to alter other rules consistent with its new status. For instance, the third year exams were converted into internal tests whereas they were conducted by the Board of Technical Education prior to autonomy, when the course was classified as a Government Diploma in Architecture G D Arch. The rules for keeping terms were also modified, students say.

With the status of the college and course yet to be decided, the academy now says students will be conferred the G D Arch if the HRD ministry8217;s notification does not arrive by early February. Studentssay the first shock came when some of them approached the principal for letters of recommendation to foreign universities. The principal had stated in the letters that the students were doing a G D Arch course, which is contrary to what they were told five years ago.

Asked to explain, Principal Pradip Amberkar told Express Newsline that the academy has been negotiating with the Department of Technical Education to get the course reclassified as a G D Arch. He says arrangements have already been made to get the board to conduct the fifth year exam. The board has agreed to allow the fifth year students to write the board exam even though the third year exam was conducted internally, the principal adds.

In the ensuing confusion, students who have almost finished the course, say they are bitter and anxious. In its information brochure, the college claims its autonomous diploma is on par with a university degree. 8220;This is true for professional purposes, and with the college being a reputed one, we can getjobs anywhere. But for higher studies, several institutions have been saying that ours is just an undergraduate course,8221; says a student.

The principal, however, disagrees. 8220;This is a prestigious institution and students won8217;t have problems securing admissions anywhere,8221; he remarks. Asked whether students were told about the need to get a notification from the HRD, the principal says: 8220;I don8217;t know.8221;

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The students, however, have another suggestion. They say the college should convert the diploma into a degree so that their five-year course will not be considered an undergraduate course.