PTU’s decision to admit students directly in 2nd sem comes under HC scanner
Punjab Technical University's decision to allow its affiliated colleges to directly admit students in the second semester of bachelor of technology (B Tech), master of business administration (MBA) and master of computer applications (MCA) courses, without the approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has come under the Punjab and Haryana high court's scanner.
Punjab Technical University's decision to allow its affiliated colleges to directly admit students in the second semester of bachelor of technology (B Tech), master of business administration (MBA) and master of computer applications (MCA) courses, without the approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has come under the Punjab and Haryana high court's scanner.
Taking up a public interest litigation filed by advocate RD Anand, the division bench comprising chief justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and justice Rakesh Kumar Jain on Monday issued notices of motion to the university and AICTE for submitting their replies before January 17.
The petitioner had challenged the university's order dated December 21 last year allowing principals and directors of its affiliated colleges to admit students directly in the ongoing classes of the second semester from December 24, 2012 to January 22, 2013.
Such students would cover the courses of the first semester during the summer break after the second semester (July/August 2013) and the fourth semester (July/August 2014), as per the orders.
The petitioner submitted that such decision puts the academics in "reverse gear" and encourages "commercialisation" and "academic mafia" in the garb of expansion of education.
Terming it "mockery of education", the petitioner stressed that a course given in one semester is connected to the course of the next semester. Surprisingly, the university has come up with a scheme that is "unheard of".
The petitioner argued that the growth in education cannot be divorced from quality and the candidates passing out under such system turn out to be unemployable and graduates only on paper.
Challenging the decision, it was submitted by the petitioner that the AICTE, in any case, could not have granted its approval to such an "un-academic" venture.