TIRUCHY: Thousands of students of 147 colleges affiliated to Bharathidasan University, who completed their graduation in 2023-24, are finding it difficult to get jobs or pursue higher education as they have not received their provisional certificate and consolidated marks sheets till date. The results were declared on June 26 and the students have been waiting for over 50 days to receive the certificates.
According to principals of government colleges under BDU, the delay has resulted in students repeatedly visiting the institutions for the documents. "It is imperative that the university issues certificates within 15 days of declaring the exam results," a principal said. "Instead, the BDU administration has asked us to wait for another month," stated another principal.
With no provisional certificates or degrees in hand, the future of many students is uncertain as they are unable to get employed or apply for other courses. "They demanded I submit my provisional certificate on the joining date. Since I don't have certificates, my appointment has been postponed," said a student who got an offer from a private healthcare company.
The delay has cost a BBA graduate a job opportunity with the employer only recognising Class 12 certificate as the highest qualification. N Mahalaksmi, a BBA graduate from the government arts and science college in Kumulur, said,
"Despite me having a degree, there are no certificates to authenticate it. I had to decline the offer which considered me a Class 12 pass." Meanwhile, MS Balamurugan, president, of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), has accused the BDU administration of inefficiency. He said, "Ideally, the university should issued the certificates within 15 days.
They haven't learnt from their past mistakes where the issuance of certificates was delayed by six months." When contacted, Controller of Examinations B Jeyapragash attributed the delay to colleges not submitting mark lists under the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme.
However, K Pandian, former AUT chief, said the university should give a valid and logical reason for the delay without blaming affiliated colleges. "We have started issuing fifth and sixth semester certificates to some colleges and will try to issue provisional and consolidated mark sheets soon," Jeyapragash stated. BDU vice-chancellor M Selvam could not be reached despite multiple attempts.