Interest in maritime courses on the wane

Former academicians blame it on poor administration

July 05, 2022 01:32 am | Updated 01:32 am IST - CHENNAI

The Indian Maritime University Chennai campus at Uthandi on East Coast Road.

The Indian Maritime University Chennai campus at Uthandi on East Coast Road. | Photo Credit: KARUNAKARAN M

A marked fall in admissions in Indian Maritime University and its affiliated colleges has become a cause for concern among academicians from the sector.

The IMU was established in 2009. The latest annual report on its website shows a steady drop in the number of admission over the years. In the first year, 1,361 candidates joined the institution and another 2,289 candidates took up programmes in its affiliated colleges.

In 2011-12, admissions peaked with 1,353 candidates being admitted to the IMU campus and another 2,364 candidates joining its affiliated colleges. However, in 2020-21 the figure slipped to 1,066 on the campus and 1,233 in affiliated colleges.

A number of affiliated colleges have closed down the programmes. In two M. Tech courses, the admission is 33% of the sanctioned intake. IMU, Chennai, governs all the colleges and campuses across the country. At present, there are only seven campuses, down from 13.

P. Vijayan, the first Vice-Chancellor of the university, blamed lack of experienced administrators at the helm. For several years now, the university has been appointing retired bureaucrats as Vice-Chancellors.

The appointment of his successors has been mired in controversies. One V-C resigned in favour of a post in a management institute; another V-C’s appointment was mired in a legal tangle. His experience in a State University as registrar for a year was not considered sufficient merit to hold the V-C’s post.

Unlike other Central government-run universities, the IMU is under the ambit of the Shipping Ministry. However, the recruitment rules for the V-C post in the government gazette states that the selected person should be “an eminent educationist in the area of maritime management general management, science and technology with Ph.D degree”.

Another issue that has been contentious is the age of the incumbent candidate. According to the university rules, a person should not be over the age of 55 whereas the incumbent official took over the job after retirement from government service and holds the additional post of the Chairman of the National Shipping Board.

Some members of the Association of Indian Universities pointed out that it was enough if the V-C candidate fulfilled the mandatory educational qualification. However, they also pointed out that the since University did not fall under the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission cannot enforce its guidelines.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.