SHIVAMOGGA: Because of the government’s failure to conduct examinations in 2014, despite fixing dates on six occasions, thousands of students across the state were not able to complete their ITI course.
The State Examination Board, under the Directorate of Employment and Training, should have conducted the examinations as per the State Council on Vocational Training (SCVT) norms.
The ITIs have been running under the National Skills Development Training Scheme and the SCVT has been framing the norms on recognition, fee structure and admissions. Recognition would be given to the colleges which follow these criteria, conduct exams and announce the results.
The state government has planned to admit more students in ITI colleges apart from the National Council on Vocational Training (NCVT), and the Directorate of Employment and Training has been conducting exams and issuing certificates.
The state has 1,200 colleges, including 200 government colleges. As per the NCVT, each college would have to admit only 21 students for each trade, while additional students come under the SCVT scheme. For these additional students, the state government has to conduct examinations, but not a singe exam was conducted in 2014.
In 2013, the students had their annual and supplementary exams. But in 2014, the system went haywire. For the 2011-13 batch, the exam should have been conducted in July-August 2013. But it was held four months later.
The supplementary exam should have been conducted within six months. The Directorate announced that the exam would be conducted in the first week of September. But later it decided to conduct it in the last week of September 2014.
The dates were set for the exams on other days, but it never took place. The department has no proper reply despite the colleges seeking clarification. An official told Express that the department would conduct the examinations once the colleges follow the norms properly. However, in its circular, the department said the exams were postponed due to technical reasons like affiliation.