When colleges ignore requests from the University Grants Commission to maintain uniformity in the names of degrees offered, they end up destroying the careers of the unsuspecting students, say academics.
At the undergraduate level, many colleges in the State have taken to offering hyphenated degrees with specialisation tags in B Sc/B Com/BA, but when they apply for jobs in these specialised areas their applications are often rejected.
K. Pandiyan, associate professor of history, National College, Tiruchi, says: “Everything seemed to go well initially, as these new UG/PG degree-holders were employed in private industries, including the IT sector. But when the private sectors reached the point of saturation, and these graduates began seeking jobs in the government sector for a permanent income, they were told their degrees were not valid.”
Candidates with such novel degrees must apply for recognition by the State government in order to qualify for a post in a government department. It is a circuitous process: the institution refers the issue to the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, and a committee goes into the curriculum and then approves the degree.
“Those who plan to pursue an academic career suffer the most,” says S.P. Thyagarajan, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras. The courses are not recognised, and the candidates have insufficient knowledge of concepts as they do not have a sound grounding in the basics of the core subject.
“For instance, students with B. Sc in Biotechnology do not have sufficient understanding of the subject at the undergraduate level as they do not learn the basic concepts of biology or technology in school,” he points out.
In its circular issued in July, the UGC said candidates with fancy degrees often realise the hard way that they are ineligible for the post of lecturers despite getting through the National Eligibility Test as they are not sufficiently qualified to teach the specialised subject.
“It is here that the Association of Indian Universities, with representatives from all universities and institutes in the country, could play a significant role,” says Prof. Thyagarajan.
Non-resident Indian students apply for equivalence certificates to get their Class XII completion approved. The AIU could conduct regular brainstorming sessions and help universities and students resolve the crises.
