Rajesh Divakaran, who has a masters degree in media communication from the UK and is now working with the HLL, said that several students have been left in the lurch. Stating that the AIU should have to change its equivalence system, he said: “There should be a competent authority like the National Recognition Information Centre in the United Kingdom, an agency responsible for providing information, advice and expert opinion on qualifications worldwide.”
Divakaran said that when he approached the British Council, he got a reply stating that that they were part of the task force that is actively working with the Indian Government to resolve the issue.
Ajai, who has taken Masters in Aviation Management from a UK University also shares the same opinion. “It is high time that the centre changed its policies. When the same students are welcome in other countries, they are not accepted in our country,” he said. The denial of right to pursue higher education, based on qualifications acquired in the UK is a very serious issue, he said.
Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said that the UGC has been requested to evolve necessary guidelines so that these students can enroll themselves in a bridge course, which would help them earn recognition for their qualifications. The matter is currently under the consideration of the UGC.
He said the issue found a mention in the Joint Statement on the India-United Kingdom Summit 2013 at para 44 which states the following: “The two leaders welcomed that Indian Higher Education regulators will actively explore the possibility of creating an enabling environment, by introducing the necessary bridging mechanism, through which Indian nationals holding a master’s degree from an accredited and recognised British University are able to pursue higher education or gain employment in India, after completing the necessary formalities of eligibility and equivalence.”
According to Tharoor the task force set up by the MHRD met on January 28, 2013 and decided to explore the possibility of creating the ‘bridging mechanism’.