Hyderabad, January 17: With an aim of improving quality technical education for undergraduates, the academic audit cell of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University – Hyderabad (JNTU-H) is all set to grade the affiliated colleges from January 18 onwards.
The move appears to be in response to the several complaints being filed by students at both the University office and the AP State Council of Higher 1Education (APSCHE) stating that their respective colleges not having the adequate infrastructure even as the current academic year is half way through.
When asked about the number of colleges, which are violating the norms by not maintaining the mandatory infrastructure under JNTU, an Academic Audit Cell official revealed that around 20 per cent colleges do not have basic amenities like toilets for women and staff rooms let alone having mandatory norms.
The grading system assumes significance in the technical education sector in the State, as JNTU Hyderabad has the highest number of affiliated colleges with as many as 300 under it out of the 634 engineering colleges in the State.
“Apart from inspecting the colleges, from Monday onwards, we are planning to evaluate and grade these colleges for the convenience of students. The information would be provided online for the benefit of the prospective students,’’ the official said and revealed that the evaluation would be done on a 100-point scale.
According to these officials, colleges that do not have a minimum of 1:12 faculty student ratio would come under the scanner along with the compulsory library and laboratories for each department among other requisite norms.
However, the members of consortium of engineering colleges of JNTU-H are opposing the move alleging that it might become a channel for some officials to squeeze money from them even as they maintain high standards.
In a related development, the APSCHE officials have informed that there would not be any second shift in engineering colleges to increase the intake.
Officials maintained that the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) officials have sent official communication in this regard.
——-Agencies