Malpractices common in pvt Raj universities

Jaipur: The Supreme Court order scrapping distance learning course degrees in technical education has exposed private universities and BEd colleges in the state. In the absence of proper regulations, these universities had allowed even working professionals to enroll as regular candidates.

Rajasthan is home to the highest number of private universities in the country and has close to 100 engineering colleges. Instances of these institutes flouting norms are very common. Sandeep Kumar, an RTI activist, has exposed several malpractices in these institutes.

"The most common violation is that these institutes admit working professionals in MTech course, which is a regular one. This was highlighted by documents that found such candidates in the roll register of both the company and the institute. The violation was so blatant that in many cases the professional was working in a different city," Kumar said.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms clearly state that an MTech degree is the minimum criterion to be eligible for teaching at an engineering college. This has forced candidates to take the illegal route as they are in no position to take a break of two years for study.

Such gross violations can be seen also in BEd colleges. In many of them, students go only to appear for the exam. Since a BEd degree has become mandatory at elite schools, this practice has become rampant.

The state higher education department has failed to check violations due to the lack of resources. "The system is such that we act only on complaints. Ideally, the institutes should submit the attendance on a monthly basis," said a higher education department official.