CHENNAI: Engineering aspirants preparing for 2019 counselling and faculty members from private engineering colleges have urged Anna University to divulge details about the report of a recent inspection conducted on 537 private engineering colleges.
Following the report, varsity officials have reduced the intake of students in 92 colleges owing to insufficient resources including infrastructure, faculty and funds. A senior official said that 22 of the inspected colleges had not applied for affiliation.
The inspection has been conducted at a time when aspirants are preparing for the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) 2019. Aspirants are urging the university to release the names of colleges in which intake will be reduced.
“The university has inspected aspects such as infrastructure and faculty strength. These are crucial parameters we consider before short-listing colleges we want to apply to. Anna University should release the report in public domain so that students can benefit from it,” said Rashmi Sandeep, an engineering aspirant.
Faculty members from private engineering colleges too allege that they will be caught in the cross-winds as the reduction of intake will affect their employment. “Reduction in intake will directly lead to unethical termination of faculty members,” charged KM Karthik, president, All India Private Colleges Employees Union (AIPCEU).
Several teachers have been terminated after the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had relaxed the teacher-student ratio from 1:15 to 1:20. “We also want the varsity to release the compensation that the university will provide for the forthcoming loss of teachers in the intake reduced courses,” he said, adding that he had also requested a detailed response from under RTI Act.
University officials told Express that they had taken no decision to make the report public yet. “Some colleges have voluntarily decided to reduce the intake. It may create a bias among people that these institutions too did not have enough infrastructure. That is why we have not released the report in public,” said Registrar J Kumar.
However, MK Surappa, Vice-Chancellor, said that he was in support of maintaining transparency. “I will discuss with other stakeholders and decide how the report can be made public. If TNEA members want the findings of the report, we will give it to them immediately.”