Top court relief for Ignou BTech graduates

Source – telegraphindia.com

New Delhi: Thousands of BTech graduates from the Indira Gandhi National Open University who have been facing discrimination at their workplaces can now breathe easy, with the Supreme Court last month dispelling all doubts about the validity of their degrees.

A two-judge bench had on July 30 ruled that Ignou must adhere to the quality norms set by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) but exempted the open university from taking approval from the regulator.

“AICTE norms will be adhered to strictly by the institution in question (Ignou) but that AICTE approval for the said course (BTech) is not necessary,” the bench of Justices R.F. Nariman and Indu Malhotra said.

The AICTE gives approval to colleges to run BTech and other technical courses.

Mukul Sharma, an Ignou graduate and petitioner, said the judgment had cleared all the apprehensions that various organisations had about such BTech degrees. Many of these organisations, including public sector undertakings, had not been promoting Ignou degree-holders.

The AICTE, which regulates technical education, has always followed a policy of not approving degree and diploma courses in BTech, MTech, pharmacology, hotel management and architecture, etc., in distance mode.

Ignou had been offering BTech courses since the 1990s without AICTE approval. But in July 2009, the Distance Education Council (DEC), the then regulator for distance courses, asked universities to stop offering BTech courses in distance mode because the AICTE was not allowing such courses. Since then Ignou and the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University have stopped such courses.

The DEC, however, did not clear the air on degrees that Ignou and the YCMOU had already awarded. The human resource development ministry had asked the DEC to frame guidelines on how to validate the engineering degrees already awarded in the distance mode. But the DEC is yet to frame the guidelines. As a result, thousands of engineering graduates from these universities have been facing difficulties at their workplace.

“Now the Supreme Court has given the ruling that AICTE approval is not necessary. No organisation can question BTech degrees from Ignou,” Sharma said.

Another graduate employed with the Steel Authority of India Ltd in Bokaro as a junior engineer said SAIL did not allow him to apply for promotion based on his Ignou degree. “They rejected my application last May because I had passed out from Ignou. Now I will not face discrimination any more,” he said.

Ignou vice-chancellor Prof. Nageshwar Rao said the university would “examine restarting BTech courses in view of the Supreme Court’s order”.

Instances of students who have studied in correspondence mode facing discrimination are plenty. Class XII students of the National Institute of Open Schooling were recently not allowed to sit for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the single-window exam for admission to MBBS and BDS courses. The students got permission following an order from Delhi High Court.

NIOS chairman Prof. C.B. Sharma said the Supreme Court’s ruling should dispel doubts among prospective employers about the quality of distance-learning degrees or certificates. “The distance mode courses give practical training on a par with regular mode courses. There is a wrong perception in some sections about distance courses. All degrees in distance mode should be treated as valid,” Sharma said.

He also suggested that the DEC, now known as the DEB, should be strengthened to regulate distance courses professionally.