It has recently been found that several Law and BEd colleges affiliated to Andhra University here fail to work according to the academic norms. Many colleges have students from Odisha, Kerala and Tamil Nadu who visit the college only during examinations. According to registrar V Umamaheswara Rao, they are no longer issuing hall tickets to colleges displaying fake attendance of students.
In the next few weeks, varsity officials planned to review the status of the colleges. The students of Visakha Law College, Tagarapuvalasa, had previously staged a dharna when the AU refused to issue hall tickets. The college has violated the guidelines by admitting over 240 students while its sanctioned strength was only 80.
The same college had also much earlier applied for hall tickets for the students but the varsity was against it. Many of these colleges do not admit students through counselling but under the management quota. According to sources, while 30% admissions are done through web counselling, other students take admissions under management quota.
Recently, around 140 colleges were given affiliations in the state. Of the 30 BEd colleges and seven Law colleges in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram, the AU has permitted 14 colleges while AP State Council of Higher Education to another 16. According to sources, if the college is sanctioned 60 seats, a majority of the students are given management seats through an agency which arranges study material to the students who appear only for examinations.
"Most of the colleges are run under distance-mode where students are mostly from other states. They show 75% attendance for hall tickets. During our visit, we also found that no classes are conducted and there is no proper faculty either. As we are unable to visit colleges regularly, they have taken advantage of the situation. The situation is serious. Imagine these students becoming future lawyers and teachers, the Registrar said.
According to the Registrar, when they refuse hall tickets to the colleges, the latter obtain permission from higher authorities or get a stay order from the High Court. "We will inspect the colleges in the next few weeks and cancel affiliations for those which do not meet the standards of the varsity norms," he said.
(This article was first published in The New Indian Express)