The APJ Abdul Kalam Technology University is considering sanction of innovative courses during next academic year for those engineering colleges which are equipped with the requisite infrastructure.
The need to encourage courses in emerging fields such as robotics and automation and move over conventional engineering programmes resonated at an adalat chaired by the Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel at the university headquarters on the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, premises on Wednesday. Considering a petition submitted by a self-financing college, Dr. Jaleel said such courses were the need of the hour considering the rapid pace of technological advancements. In this view, efforts made to commence traditional courses must be discouraged as they were expected to become redundant in the current scenario. Such courses must be promoted in arts and science colleges also, he pointed out.
In the particular case, the college had been denied permission, despite purchasing the required equipment and appointing faculty, owing to the absence of the Board of Studies for facilitating such courses.
The oft-repeated complaint of delay in remunerating teachers for examination duties also cropped up at the adalat. The university is yet to pay arrears amounting to ₹8 crore that accrued over the last year. Taking a critical view of the situation, the Minister ordered the varsity officials to ensure the disbursal of all outstanding dues within March 31. He also reiterated his instruction to develop a mechanism that will ensure disbursal of remunerations on the same day of service.
Dr. Jaleel also ordered action against teachers who frequently erred while evaluating answer scripts. Stringent action will be adopted in cases in which the marks awarded during revaluation were considerably higher than the original evaluation.
Weightage
It was also decided to redefine the weightage activity points which were assigned for B.Tech. students for extra-curricular activities. At least 100 points were required for graduation. The Higher Education Department will also permit appointing workers on daily wage basis to fill the vacant non-teaching posts in the university.