Be Wise in Choosing an Educational Institution...

- A Concerned Citizen

For more than a month and a half now, Icfai institutes in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and other places have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In fact, on Thursday, many students turned violent and ransacked the Icfai Institute of Science and Technology (IcfaiTech) at Bangalore after learning of its legal status. Today, these students face criminal cases against them and their future is in jeopardy. Students need to be extra careful before joining any institution, especially for pursuing a course leading to their first degree. They should not merely go by advertisements and promotional campaigns. They need to check the legal status of the institution that they are planning to join.

 

A student should ask four crucial questions before joining an institution of higher learning. These are regarding the status of affiliation and the legal status of the institution awarding the degree, the status of approval by the concerned statutory professional council, the status of accreditation, and the acceptance of the degree by other universities in India and abroad.

 

Is the Institution awarding the degree, either a valid University or Deemed to be University? If yes, is it operating within its authorized jurisdiction?

In India, valid degrees can be awarded only by a University set up either by an Act of the Parliament, in which case, the University is popularly known as a ‘Central University’ or by an Act of a state legislature, in which case, it will be known as a ‘State University’. Central and state universities come under section 2(f) of the UGC Act. There is also a provision for Central Government to grant 'Deemed to be University' status on institutions of higher learning on the recommendation of the UGC. Such institutes become known as "Deemed Universities" and come under section 3 of the UGC Act. They can also award degrees to their own students, provided their courses have been recognized by the UGC. However, deemed universities cannot affiliate other colleges and institutions.

 

While Central Universities can have an all-India jurisdiction, subject to the provisions of the Act of the Parliament under which it came to existence, state universities cannot have jurisdiction outside the geographical boundaries of the state. In fact, for several state universities, the jurisdiction might be limited to a few districts within the state. Deemed Universities are unitary universities, which cannot affiliate other institutions. However, as per the 2003 UGC private universities regulations, after five years of their existence, private universities, including deemed universities, under exceptional circumstances, and with the permission of the respective state governments and UGC, can have off-campus centres outside their main campus. BITS Pilani, which now has a legally valid campus each inHyderabad and Goa, is the best example for this.  

 

Keep this in mind! No university is ordinarily allowed to have campuses or study-centres outside its jurisdiction. So always check which university is going to award the degree after the completion of the course. If the university does not have jurisdiction over the geographical area where the institute one is joining is located, then any degree awarded by the university on successful completion of an undergraduate/post graduate program in such an institution would be legally questionable. The only exception to this rule is when it is a legally authorized off-campus centre of an established deemed university like BITS Pilani, in which case the institution is a constituent of that deemed university, and not an affiliate. If your institution claims to be an off-campus centre, and hence, a constituent of a valid university elsewhere, first check if the university in question is more than five years old and whether the campus you are planning to study has been officially notified by the university as an off-campus centre after taking prior permission of the UGC and the concerned state government.

 

In case, the course you are pursuing is a distance learning course or a flexible learning program as some institutions would call it, irrespective of where you are attending contact classes and writing exams, the course has validity only if its approved by the  Distance Education Council (DEC) and the UGC. In all cases, it is advisable that one check with the UGC if the University under question is in the list maintained by it under section 2(f) of the UGC Act.

 

Does the course/ programme have the approval of the relevant professional council ? In India, we have various statutory professional councils which have regulatory powers in their respective domains of education. For instance, the DEC that was mentioned above is the concerned professional council when it comes to distance education or Open University system. When it comes to technical education (courses in the field of engineering, computer applications, Management, Pharmacy, Architecture, Hotel Management, etc), the statutory authority is the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). AICTE is the standards maintaining authority and so all institutions of technical education have to maintain the minimum standards prescribed by AICTE. While universities and their constituents legally do not need to take AICTE's prior approval for running technical programmes, even they are expected to maintain the minimum standards prescribed by AICTE, failing which UGC can take action against them. It is mandatory for most deemed universities, colleges and other institutes to take AICTE's permission before running technical courses. Even a seat cannot be increased without AICTE's permission. Exceptions are there: IIMs, IITs etc do not need to take AICTE's permission as they are run directly by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and hence are sister institutions of AICTE. IIT, IIM degrees are, therefore, automatically AICTE approved. Also, long established deemed universities like BITS Pilani, (BITS Pilani became a deemed university in 1964) legally needn't take AICTE’s permission to run technical courses because they were established and were running popular technical courses long before AICTE Act of 1987 was passed.

 

Analogous to the role performed by AICTE in technical education, is the role performed by Medical Council of India (MCI) in medical education; Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in agricultural education and research; National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in teacher education (B.Ed, M.Ed etc);Dentists Council of India, Pharmacy Council of India, Indian Nursing Council and Bar Council of India in the fields of dental education, pharmacy education (up to graduate level), nursing education and legal education respectively; 

 

Does the institution have valid accreditation? If it is an institution approved by the UGC and if its credentials are good, the institution is likely to go for National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation. NAAC accreditation, therefore, is an indication that the institution has send out at least two batches of students already and that it has nothing to hide. In addition, if the NAAC has awarded a high grade (A, A+ etc) then that is official recognition of the quality of education that such an institute provides. For instance, the University of Hyderabad has been awarded the highest possible rating given by NAAC. If it is a technical institution approved by the AICTE, then the accrediting body is the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). NBA after its examinations merely gives an 'accredited' or 'not-accredited' status to institutions. NBA accreditation is again an official recognition that the institution meets or exceeds the stipulated minimum standards for technical education prescribed by AICTE.

 

Is the institution awarding the degree a member of the Association of Indian Universities? It is not a legal requirement that all universities and deemed universities in India should be members of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). However, all traditional universities and deemed universities in India are members of the AIU. Several universities, when considering students for higher education, insist that their previous degree should be from a university, which is a member of the AIU. Even some of the reputed non-Indian South Asian universities are associate members of the AIU. Since AIU is authorized by the member universities to determine the equivalence of various degrees across different universities in India, it is always good (from a mobility perspective) to earn your degrees from universities/deemed universities which are members of AIU.

 

It is important that students know the regulatory environment in the field of higher education in India. Knowing the legal requirements and taking reasonable care in these matters can help the youth of this country avoid losing money and precious years to well marketed, money-oriented educational business empires. It is certainly better to be careful than to be sorry!

TOT Editor's note: It is a timely message. The Opportunistic Times would like to place on record our thanks to the concerned citizen who wrote this and has shared it for publication. Also, please note that the usual disclaimers apply. The author has taken reasonable care while collecting and presenting the information contained above. This is posted here for information purposes alone, in the spirit of a public service message. Any erroneous reporting of factual details, if pointed out with evidence of the correctness of the claim, will be rectified with due acknowledgment within reasonable time. Needless to say, any act of accessing and reading information here does not create any relationship, including a solicitor-client relationship, and the author and the publisher takes no responsibility of actions taken on the basis of information provided in this blog.