Cry baby KTU makes students suffer

Thiruvananthapuram: The APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, set up to streamline technology education in the state, continues to be cry baby even after it completed two years of its existence. It has no permanent campus nor has statutory bodies such as senate, syndicate, academic council and board of studies. Its staff strength is miniscule though it has to grapple with the academic and administrative management of 164 colleges which admit more than 60,000 students a year.

The university, at present functioning from the campus of College of Engineering, Trivandrum, has been finding conduct of examinations, a key responsibility, a tough task. “The students or the faculty have no forum to present their issues,” said Mr Sanjeev Kumar, assistant professor, NSS Engineering College, Palakkad, a government-aided institution. “The only bodies the university has now are board of governors and the academic committee, both formed through nomination.”  

The present crisis is a repeat of what happened last year, Mr Sanjeev Kumar said. “The university had chosen to engage a private firm last academic year to conduct examination using online question papers, but had to revoke the decision following protests,” he said. “The university then held examinations using printed question papers. It repeated the decision this year and entrusted a private agency run by a former employee of the NIC using the public sector Keltron as a mask.”

Many students from the north east and even from Andaman who got admission in government and government-aided engineering colleges through all-India quota had gone home after the university postponed the examinations which were scheduled to begin on December 2. “Sudden changes in the schedule put the students to untold suffering,” he said.