JNTUH R18 students write to Telangana Governor demanding institute comply with AICTE rules

Students of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH) have written to the Governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundararajan requesting an intervention into their ongoing battle with the institute to get subject exemption for students from the R18 regulation. 

The batch of students who passed out in 2022 is demanding an exemption for all theory subjects for those who have gained credits in the range of 150-160. The institute, on the other hand, has fixed the credit limit at 160 for students to earn their undergraduate degree. This, the students claim, has put them at a disadvantage in their bid for jobs and higher education. 

The contents of the letter to the Governor
"As per AICTE academic rule it is clearly mentioned that a range of 150-160 credits for a student to be eligible to get undergraduate degree in Engineering. But JNTUH has made 160 credits mandatory to get the degree and not following this rule [sic.]," the students wrote. They also claimed that students from other regulations, including R07, R09, R013, R15, and R16 have been granted an exemption of up to eight credits. However, the same has not been extended to the R18 students, they alleged. 

"Just because of one or two subjects students are unable to join jobs after getting offer letters and few are unable to pursue higher studies after getting acceptance from universities," said the students of their plight.

Highlighting other issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the students said, "Half of our Engineering was done through online mode, and some students faced connectivity issues in remote areas. And no syllabus was reduced these affected students learning [sic.]." The pandemic also delayed the academic calendar for these students by a year, with the ninth semester completing in 2023 instead of 2022. This, they said will affect their careers, the students added.

Moreover, those students who joined R18 after being detained in the R18 batch were unable to get their degrees because of the 160 credits mandate by JNTUH, despite having more credits per subject. The students added that allowing subject exemption for the R18 batch will enable thousands of students to gain their degrees and go on to get jobs and pursue higher education. They pointed out that grace marks are not enough to help them clear their credit limits.