After beating their chests over increasing seats in engineering, management, pharmacy and diploma courses, the state government is gulping down its throat a bitter pill this year. A total of 25 private technical colleges of MBA, MCA, pharmacy and engineering have decided to close shops and a formal letter has already been sent to the Gujarat Technological University (GTU). The one reason they have echoed is that none of these institutes have been able to get any student this year.
The State government has decided to shelve the Private Universities Bill and instead come up with model guidelines for opening private varsities in Maharashtra.
Even as Punjab government is bracing itself to hold the statewide joint entrance test (JET) for admission to polytechnic colleges, the clamor by private colleges to discontinue the test has grown louder. With less than one-fourth seats being filled than the students taking the exams, the futility of the exercise, proving to be expensive for the cash-strapped government, is being questioned.
In the wake of anomalies unearthed in admissions to two self-financing medical colleges, the governing council of Kerala University of Health and Allied Sciences (KUHAS) has decided to verify the certificates of all students admitted to the colleges affiliated to it in 2012-13 and cross check the list of students given by colleges to the admissions supervisory committee headed by Justice P A Mohammed with those sent to the university for registration during the period.
A number of new private universities with liberal arts programs have sprung up in India. There were fewer than 20 such schools in 2005, and there are more than 100 now, according to a report by Shiv Nadar University.
A month after the Maharashtra cabinet cleared a mandatory 25% caste and socio-economic quota in the Private Universities Bill, the state has developed cold feet over its implementation.
The ruling BJP, in its hurry to sanction permission to establish new private universities in the State, has even bypassed the Karnataka State Higher Education Council by not getting the feasibility report from it to open certain universities.
Suspecting a bigger scam in granting of approval by Dental Council of India to private colleges, CBI today expanded its probe searching premises of three members of the Council's Executive committee and six private dental colleges.
Private engineering colleges in the state have reiterated their demand to fill up 10% seats through management or NRI quota for the 2012-13 academic session.
State government’s proposal to set up engineering colleges in the state with an aim to improve the quality of technical education for students with subsidised fees has come as jolt to private colleges in the state operating with poor infrastructure and inadequate teaching staff.
Even as the Supreme Court's verdict on National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical and dental courses is awaited, private colleges have started conducting their own entrance exams. Caught in the middle of the Centre versus state tussle are thousands of students who have no idea what the future holds for them.
Following the footsteps of private engineering colleges, private medical colleges have demanded a hike in the fees of under graduate medical course seats obtained through CET 2013.
The managements of private engineering colleges are of the view that arriving at an agreement with the government on the fee structure and seat sharing matrix for CET, 2013 will be difficult unless it considers hiking fees in private colleges.
Minister for Higher Education C.T. Ravi on Wednesday told the Legislative Assembly that all private universities in the State have to set aside 40 per cent of seats for students from Karnataka and follow the reservation system as per government orders.
Tabling of Private Universities Bill raised a furore in the legislative council on Thursday, with JD(S) leader M C Nanaiah alleging a ‘business deal’ was being struck, to allow setting up private universities in the state.
The Legislative Council on Tuesday gave its nod for setting up three more private universities in the State, CMR University, New Baldwin University and Presidency University.
Legislative council on Tuesday approved the establishment of three private universities in the state and of them all the three are located in Bangalore. Universities are, one will be started by C M R Janaradhana trust , second by Baldwin education society and the third by Presidency education society .