The Central Polytechnic College at Nettayam, one of the first such colleges in the State set up by the government in 1958, is unique in many aspects. It is one of the two colleges in Kerala with a course in textile technology. It is the only college in the district with a civil engineering course.
The college consistently attracts the best of companies and secures placement for 75 per cent of its students. It is often the first preference for students choosing this field.
But, the college is currently facing an uncertain future, with chances of closure in two year’s time, when the current batches pass out.
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The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has withheld the approval for the college for the current year.
Consequently, the college has not been considered for the allotment process which began on June 25.
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The problems started with the AICTE expert committee’s visit on April 9.
The AICTE team flagged 28 issues that required rectification.
Trivial ones too
“One of the major issues was regarding the staff pattern. As per the AICTE norms, we need one faculty member for 20 students. We were short by about 24 faculty members. The other issue was on inadequate safety measures. But, some other criticisms, for instance the lab being bigger in area than that specified and display boards not as per norms, were trivial,” says Jaimohan, a member of the college alumni, which has been anchoring the protests over the issue.
On April 16, the college received a mail asking the authorities to be present before an appeals committee in Delhi on April 18.
The authorities had by then took steps to address most of the issues and presented their case before the committee.
“The only major issue remaining is that of the staff pattern, on which the State government has to take a decision. But the government is reluctant to take that step as they will have to do the same in 48 other polytechnic colleges in the State, which will incur considerable costs. Even if this is done now, we might have to approach the Supreme Court, which has asked the AICTE to consider only affiliations prior to April 14 for admissions this year,” says Principal-in-charge R.S. Joshy.
Parent moves High Court
Now, a parent here has approached the High Court, asking for admissions to be allowed this year.
The case has been set aside for hearing for next Monday.
“My daughter is studying in the third year and my son has applied for civil engineering this year. But, with the cancellation of approval, the future of both my children is in jeopardy. The certificate from this college will not have any value without AICTE approval and they will find it hard to find a job,” says S. Sasikala who filed the case.
This year, only three companies have come here for campus placements, compared to 35 in the previous years.