No AICTE approval: JNTU-H may scrap 9 integrated courses | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: Sixteen years after introducing Integrated Dual Degree Programmes (IDP), JNTU College of Engineering, Hyderabad, in all likelihood, may discontinue them. It has now emerged that nine out of the ten IDP courses were launched without the mandatory approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).The decision has been forced by mounting complaints from students struggling to find jobs and scholarship eligibility. Since the inception of the courses in 2009, around 7,000 students have enrolled in the five-year UG+PG programmes.“I nearly lost out on an opportunity to join the merchant navy after clearing all the rounds as my course was not AICTE-approved,” said Varun Kumar M, who studied electronics and electrical engineering and MBA as a five-year integrated course.Varun said he came to know about the lack of approval only after his varsity initially refused to issue a confirmation letter — as sought by his employer — stating that he had completed the integrated course.“About four days before joining the merchant navy as an electro-technical officer, I went to collect the confirmation letter. I was informed that the college couldn’t give me one. Only after student leaders intervened did I get one, and thankfully it was accepted by officials,” he said, adding that while he got his BTech degree after 3.5 years, the issue was mainly with his MBA, which he needed to justify gaps in his resume and to prove that he completed the integrated UG+PG in five years.Several students said they were unaware of the lack of regulatory body’s approval. “I opted for this course as I wanted to study in the campus college. It never occurred to me to check if it had the required approvals. I don’t intend to look for a govt job, so I don’t think I will be affected,” said Sri Varun Sarathi, a final-year student.College officials say the problem arises from a regulation that permits only one IDP course per college. Except for those who joined the mechanical engineering stream, which is AICTE-approved, students of other programmes are being denied even the GATE scholarship in their final year despite meeting eligibility criteria.“We began offering IDP courses alongside IITs in 2009, unaware that only one course could be approved per college,” said Venkata Narasimha Reddy Guduru, principal of the college. “Recently, we started receiving complaints about students being questioned on the authenticity of their degrees and being denied GATE scholarships. We’ve decided to make one final attempt to secure AICTE approval. If it doesn’t come through, we’ll have to discontinue the courses.“A team from JNTUH, including vice-chancellor T Kishen Kumar Reddy, has left for Delhi to get the issue resolved, the college officials said.
