JAIPUR: The state higher education department has asked parents and students to examine the credibility of private universities before taking admissions in them, questioning the trustworthiness of all 51 private universities functioning in the state. The notice has cautioned students against five universities after receiving serious complaints.
The department, which is a regulator of private universities, has asked parents and students to ascertain if a university in which one wants to take admission is following all the rules.
‘Notice an admission that govt has no control over varsities’
By rules it means the regulations set by state and central government educational bodies. The four-point public notice, issued on October 20, asks parents/students to investigate/inquire whether the university in which they are interested has opened any study centre/off-campus centre/offshore centre without the permission of state government and UGC. It directs them to find out if these universities are running programmes after having received due permission from authorities.
The department is investigating five private universities, including Sunrise University in Alwar and Sridhar University in Jhunjhunu. “Investigations are going on against five universities. Aspiring students should examine if there are any irregularities before they take admissions in these five universities,” the notice said.
Baffled by the letter, Puneet Sharma, an expert on higher education, says that the notice is an admission that the government has no control over these universities. “How can the department conveniently pass the onus of finding irregularities of any private university to parents and students? Does the state expect a parent or a student living in a remote area to run from UGC office to AICTE and from the government department to court to check the credentials of universities before taking admissions? Isn’t this the job of the government? If the state cannot regulate, they should close the department,” Sharma said.
Defending the move, state higher education minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati says that the letter is to create awareness of such universities. “The notice was issued after several cases were reported to us of students being taught courses by universities which had no permission for them. It is an alert for students,” said Bhati.
When asked if the government is not capable of regulating these private universities, the minister confessed that there were issues.
A private university VC, requesting anonymity, said that the tone and tenor of the letter were such that it has put all 51universities under the scanner.