The Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has urged all its affiliated colleges to examine the passport and visa validity of international students before admitting them. This comes after the university received complaints that some colleges in Bengaluru were admitting students without proper documentation.
“We received a letter from the police stating that some of the colleges were accepting admissions without verifying documents. They have also told us that a number of students had stopped attending classes and were engaged in anti-social activities,” a senior VTU official said. The university, in a circular to colleges last week, stated that these details should also be verified at regular intervals. Colleges have also been warned that if any of the conditions are violated, the institutions will be liable for prosecution for sheltering people from other nationalities under relevant provisions of The Foreigners Act 1946.
A VTU official said that many of the Bengaluru-based engineering colleges advertise in other countries to woo students. “They have a large number of vacant seats and admit students without checking their credentials. They also charge a higher fee for foreign students,” the official said.
S.A Kori, Executive Director, Karnataka State Higher Education Council, said that all students enrol in colleges after approval from the Ministry of External Affairs.
According to the All-India Survey of Higher Education 2018-19, Karnataka has the highest number of international students. Of the total 47,427 foreign students enrolled in higher educational institutions across the country, 10,023 students are in institutions within Karnataka.
