Gujarat University (GU) vice-chancellor MN Patel has hinted that the external courses or distance education for its various faculties may soon be closed down. There are around 15,000 external UG and PG students who are registered with GU. During a senate meeting on Monday, students raised the issue of external students. The VC said that he had told university officials that if they raised objection to the external courses, he would consider closing down them. He said after the university invited applications for external students, university officials were of the opinion that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar University was there in the state for distance education. Senate members said that GU should give the manuscripts of syllabus to the external students. At this point, the VC opined that they wanted to close down the external courses. A senate member said once the university closes down the external course, students would make a beeline for admission in self-financed colleges. The VC also made it clear that the grant-in-aid science colleges which were allowed to run self-financed colleges will not be permitted to admit students in the first year from the academic year beginning June. He said that these college managements who were supposed to have additional staff continued with the present staff and made money. He said that the science colleges wanting to have SFI colleges will have to have separate faculty and buildings. The senate members also raised the issue of pathetic conditions of the hostels, the bathrooms and the roads leading to the hostels. They also alleged that GU did not declare the results in time because of which the academic calendar was not followed. The senate members said that the university should also fix a time-frame for declaring the outcome of the reassessment of the answer-sheets.
[SOURCE :-careerindia]
