After Distance Degrees Suspended, AICTE Begins Registration For Qualification Tests

12/05/2017

NEW DELHI:  After the Supreme Court of India suspended degrees awarded through distance mode by deemed universities, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has started the process for the registration of such candidates for appearing for written and practical tests for making their degrees valid. The top court had directed the AICTE to hold tests for the students whose degrees would stand suspended by January 15, 2018, and said these students should not be given more than two chances to clear the examination.

In a public notice in respect of distance education in engineering, AICTE asked all the candidates enrolled during the academic sessions 2001-2005 in four deemed to be universities to register on council's website aicte-india.org for appearing in the test.

In its November order, the apex court suspended the degrees or diplomas awarded by these four institutes: JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Rajasthan; Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE), Rajasthan; Allahabad Agricultural Institute (AAI), Uttar Pradesh; and Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation, Salem, Tamil Nadu.

"AICTE-UGC have been directed to conduct to both in written and as well as in practical for the concerned students under joint supervision," said the public notice. 

The online registration facility has been made available from December 2, 2017. Last date for registration is January 15, 2018 till 05:00.

The test is likely to be conducted in May/June 2018.

The Supreme Court on November 3 this year said no deemed-to-be-university can run open and distant learning courses from the next academic year (2018-19) unless it is permitted to do so by the concerned authorities. 

"We restrain all deemed-to-be-universities to carry on any courses in distance education mode from the Academic Session 2018-2019 onwards unless and until it is permissible to conduct such courses in distance education mode," a bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit ruled.

The court said they could not start any course in distance education mode unless "specific permissions are granted by the concerned statutory/regulatory authorities in respect of each of those courses and unless the off-campus centres/ study centres are individually inspected and found adequate by the concerned statutory authorities".

"The approvals have to be course-specific," the court stressed.

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