Thousands of students studying in the six PU colleges which were served notices by the Pre-University department for their alleged role in the question paper leak incident are now uncertain about their future.
Students fear that if the PU department cancels the recognition of these colleges they may face severe problems as there are no good PU colleges in the vicinity. They want the PU department to come up with an alternative arrangement before closing down the colleges. Following the II PUC Physics and Mathematics final examination question paper leak, the state government started the process of de-recognising the six PU colleges i.e. Venkatadri College, Chintamani, Royal PU College, Chintamani, Pragathi PU College, Chintamani, Shantiniketana PU College, Chikkaballapur, Vijaya College, Chintamani and Sahyadri PU College, Kolar.
Now thousands of I PUC students studying in these colleges are worried about their future as they have to get admission in other colleges within the next two months to continue their II PUC education if the government cancels the recognition of these colleges. They thus want the PU department to come up with an alternative plan before taking a final decision on de-recognising the colleges.
The students say that they had joined these colleges based on the II PUC and CET results and they were not aware of any type of exam malpractices. Speaking to this newspaper, a student of Venkatadri College said that the incident had disturbed his classmates and affected their summer coaching programme. “None of us knew that college lecturers were involved in the paper leak. As the college had a good PUC and CET record, all of us joined. But now everyone is saying that the college will be closed down. We are upset and are thinking of approaching the PU board seeking their help and alternative arrangements. There are not many good colleges in the city and accommodating several thousand students is not an easy job,” he said.
“If the government cancels the recognition before the commencement of another academic year it is ok. But what if it cancels it in the middle of the academic year?” he asked. Academician Mr Rajesh Shriyan S.R. said it was high time the government came down heavily on all colleges involved in this criminal activity. “It should be a lesson to other colleges. But at the same time the government should protect the interests of the poor students,” he said.