Admission over,but more than 100 students won’t attend class this year

“All the while we were assured that the course will begin in July. Obviously,we did not apply elsewhere. Now,MBA admissions are closed across Maharashtra. The college is trying to pacify us by offering to send our applications for Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) instead of the master’s degree we had applied for. Also none of the college are reputed. Why should we settle for colleges we haven’t even heard of,” said an anxious student,who fears he might lose an entire academic year.

I2IT claims the situation is the result of IGNOU not recognising its commitment and abruptly withdrawing affiliation. The college had entered into an agreement with IGNOU in June 2010,for running MBA,MTech and MS programmes and two batches had started in July 2010 and January 2011. This was the third.

A public notice had been published by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in March saying all technical courses with or without affiliation will not be under the purview of AICTE unless the course is approved by the Council itself.

Explaining the issue,I2IT director Ravinder Joshi said,“After we saw the notification,we decided to discontinue the course and sent a notice of termination of agreement to IGNOU on May 25. As per terms of the agreement,our association with IGNOU would have ended in November,due to a six-month notice period. This allowed us to carry on with our third intake in July and going by it we had admitted over 100 students for the programmes. However,IGNOU decided to terminate the contract with immediate effect.”

To resolve the issue,a joint co-ordination committee meeting (comprising directors of IGNOU and I2IT,the pro-vice chancellor and other senior officials) was held on July 2. The matter remained unresolved.

“All these months,while this confusion was on,we were kept in the dark. The college was not sure about the course from March onwards. Why did they keep everything under wraps and decide to tell us two days before the course began? Now they’re telling us they will refund our admission fees,which is about Rs 30,000. But it’s of no use now unless we get admission,” said another student,requesting anonymity.

Joshi said,“We had admitted the students on the basis of tests held all over India. Now we’re initiating the process of sending their applications to other colleges,after we get the consent of these colleges as our major concern now is the problem faced by the students.”