Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Poloytechnic College at Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram has lost its affiliation as the college does not have the staff strength prescribed by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). As a result the admission to the college for the academic year 2016-17 has come to a standstill.
Incidentally, the college, established in 1958, is the first polytechnic college in the state. The failure of the authorities to ensure that they had completed the online registration in February 2015 has resulted in the impasse. The college, when considered by the AICTE for approval in 2016, was treated as a new college and thus the student-teacher ratio of 20:1 ratio was made compulsory for it.
The college was originally following the 36:1 ratio which was the norm when the college was established in 1958. The Central Polytech-nic College now has departments of Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Textile Technology. Each department has four or five faculty members.
However, if the student teacher ratio of 20:1 has to be ensured, each department would have to have at least eight faculty members. Central Polytechnic College principal-in-charge R.S. Joshy had told DC that on April 11 that an expert from Delhi had visited the campus and had identified some deficiencies.
“Now we want the intervention of the State Government. The issues can be settled if they gives assurance to the AICTE that the shortage of staff and other infrastructure deficiencies will be rectified within one year,” said Mr Joshy.
