About 50 students of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management here observed a fast here on Tuesday demanding that the AICTE approve the post graduate diploma programmes offered by the institute.
According to the students, the institute has 180 students and 105 of them are doing post graduate diploma in specific subjects – textiles, apparels and retail. The courses were started nearly five years ago and had AICTE approval in the initial years. However, it was not renewed and the students who joined the course in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are affected. “We will pass out in three months and without the AICTE approval, our placement will be affected,” said one of the students.
They said that the 2012-2014 batch for the MBA course in textile management, offered jointly with the IGNOU, had not received the registration numbers and hence were unable to write the examinations. The students are protesting against these for the last few days.
A senior official in the Union Ministry of Textiles told The Hindu over telephone on Monday that the Ministry was seized of the matter.
The institute had received the AICTE approval for the post graduate diploma course for those who had joined the course in 2011-2012 for 60 students.
The institute offered specialisation in three streams. The Ministry was in touch with the institute and the AICTE regularly and was confident of getting the approval for each stream soon. “There will not be any default in the promise made to the students,” the official said.
