The Andhra University has provided PhD admissions to 38 officers from the air force, navy, and army in research areas in strategic studies, military psychology, defence technology, international relations and strategic management.
For the past three years, the university has been bringing ex-servicemen into academia in order to assist them in transitioning to civilian life. Vice-Chancellor Prasad Reddy stated that personnel with the rank of commodore and above are eligible for PhD programmes under the executive quota at the university. "(They qualify for the) executive category if they have 15 years of experience. They also have an opportunity if they have experience on the ground," he said, as per a report by ANI.
"All the ex-servicemen didn't have degrees while they were joining the defence sector. After their retirement, they need a graduation to do a job. The university recognized their experiences and gave certificates without any graduation qualification. Over 3,000 candidates took the certificate from the last three years in the university," Reddy said. He added that similar opportunities were provided by universities in countries abroad.
He also informed that 27 different MoUs have been signed between the varsity and the Defence sector. "There was the university's agreement with the Defence to offer various courses in Visakhapatnam. We have trained several armed personnel in the last three years. Especially skill-based certificate programmes with a duration of three to six months [were provided]," Reddy said.
"Soldiers are trained in their respective trades during their service, such as electrical, mechanical, civil, gunner and missile maintainer, but they do not have any formal qualification from any Government University/Institute. Hence they are unable to join any company after retirement from army service. The Diploma programme from AU will help all ex-servicemen to get suitable jobs," the VC said further, as per ANI.
