Student Grievances - KL University Chancellor SS Mantha guides in a live session

During the admission season, challenges come to students in different shapes, colours and sizes ranging from capitation fee to refunds, from admission to placements and so on. While some are well informed, a larger proportion of the student community is unaware of their fundamental rights or the legal procedures that need to be followed to get some issues addressed. Not only this, but even academic institutes also take advantage of their ignorance and keep them in the dark. However, students must know that they can exercise their fundamental rights at all levels, given the challenge should be genuine. To bring clarity on every aspect of the education system, legal procedures to get student grievances addressed against the unfair practices by the colleges and the norms set up by the AICTE for technical institutes to follow, Dr. SS Mantha, Chancellor, KL University and former AICTE Chairman wears his heart on his sleeve via a live session with Careers360 Founder Maheshwer Peri.

Excerpts from the Live Session:

Q: There has been a conflict between the institutions and the regulator – one seeking the greater freedom and the other a greater responsibility. The regulator wants the institutions to be more responsible, while the institutes want more freedom to be more responsible. Where do we see this going in future?

Dr. SS Mantha: There is no activity in this country which is not regulated. It should not be looked at as a conflict. Regulators are enablers and facilitators. At least, I can say from the time of my tenure, AICTE has been functioning as an enabler for the institutions by bringing in the computerization or the automation through which any individual who wants to set up an institution or seeks any other service like approvals, etc. can do it from home.

Given the huge number of institutions in our country, the best kind of regulation would be a self-driven regulation. But does it work from the top to the bottom? Therefore, we have three kinds of institutions – 1. Extremely self-motivating and focus on maintaining quality in every aspect, so too much regulation is not required there. 2. At the second level are those institutions which have a lot of potential but need guidance and that’s where the larger principles, regulations work. 3. The third set of institutions are those for whom education is a business activity, such institutions need to be told and that’s where the regulation comes into play.

Q: Do you mean that regulator comes in when education is driven as a business proposition and not as a proposition for a better outcome?

Dr. Mantha: We must also understand that maintaining quality or development of an institution in today’s time also needs a lot of money. Money needs to be created for development or quality initiatives, which most of the other institutions don’t do. And that’s where the regulator feels that this is what I show as a minimal and therefore, the institutions have to confirm it. So anything that goes beyond this is a business proposition which is not right. Thus, there needs to be a very clear understanding that quality needs money but it’s always subject to debate as to how much money.

Q: During the admission season a lot of false and deceitful claims are made by the institutions in terms of placements, etc. So, what is the role of the regulator in controlling this?

Dr. Mantha: First, we need to understand the education system in the country. We have central universities, state universities, private universities, etc. University Grants Commission (UGC) has regulations to curb these kinds of false practices. In 2019 May, UGC has released a regulation called “Redressal of grievances of the students” wherein several provisions are there. There are several parts to the provisions – it suggests to set up a college students grievances committee at the institute level. At the university level, at the department level, another student grievances committee and above all an ombudsman at the state level. So, there are rules and systems in place, and any grievances are addressed through these provisions. My advice to the students and parents is that they go through these provisions and be better off.

Q: Is there any single point of contact where the student can complain against anything unfair?

Dr. Mantha: The first point of interaction for any student is the student redressal committee.

Q: Students are investing their lives and a few lakh rupees in an educational institute. So how do we protect the lives and careers of the students in terms of having a prospectus which tells us only truth and nothing else but the truth?

Dr. Mantha: That’s where the concept of business comes in. Education is a fundamental right which everyone needs to have. There are regulations and rules which need to be followed by the institutions, but if they don’t, then they are questionable. That’s the job done by the regulator.

Q: Some private institutes are offering diplomas that are not recognised by the AICTE. How’s that possible?

Dr. Mantha: There are boards of technical education that are set up by the state governments. So first of all the approval for setting up a polytechnic (which essentially means offering a diploma) is given by the AICTE. Once that’s done, the approval goes to the state government and it operates within the board of technical education because there are certificates to be given, grievances to be addressed. So generally, the 2 or 3 years diploma needs AICTE’s approval and also needs to get into the state domain.

Q: This is related to the people who are taking up the student issues to the regulatory or to the court. Let me talk about IIPM which got closed and we were fighting the case for students and you were the AICTE Chairman at that time. How did you perceive someone like us (who are fighting for student rights) who are on the other side and were impleading you (regulator) as a part of the court process to explain why a certain thing has happened? What is the thinking within the regulatory body as to how they must deal with it because in a certain sense, principally, we both were on the same side, but in the courtroom, we were opposite each other?

Dr. Mantha: In a case, there are several respondents and some of the respondents can have similar views. Having said that, in a society, there are different players who could have different perspectives, but the end goal could be similar. While AICTE’s role is to see who’s running an unapproved course or institution and has to take cognizance within the provisions that are available at that time, there are other players also who are on it, but their means are different. During my tenure at the AICTE, I tend to look at such people (like you) as meeting the same ends.

Q: If you had to remove the hat of a bureaucrat at that time, how do you look at people like us?

Dr. Mantha: You have a very critical role to play. Not everything comes to the government through its sources. There are some things which come from other sources. Therefore, there must be a very synergistic approach to problems that ail the society, between different players, who bring it on the table.

Q: You championed the cause of greater transparency in the system during your tenure at the AICTE and brought the mandatory disclosure and the current AICTE Chairman further extended it by asking the institutes to put their placement data on their sites. But there are many institutes who don’t publish their mandatory disclosure or placement data. How do the students or we as a stakeholder force such institutes to do that?

Dr. Mantha: There are established mechanisms with the regulator. For instance, any grievance which is brought to our notice, we deal with it seriously. There is a section in the AICTE which looks at the advertisements or the third party complains that come to us. The source doesn’t matter to us, what matters is whether the complaint is genuine or not. Stakeholders like you can always ask the regulator for the list of institutions which are flouting the norms. There are set mechanisms which are time tested over a period of time. There is a mechanism to penalise all such institutions. An inspection team is sent to check where are the rules being flouted. And if that is proven, then action has been taken in the past and is still being taken. Any citizen or person can reach out to the AICTE or UGC if he/she finds something wrong or illegal is taking place at some institute. Even the university to which the institute has an affiliation, has a greater responsibility and it can certainly take cognizance of that. Autonomous institutes (where the exams have been removed from the university) have to report to the university ultimately and the university has this task of going back to the UGC.

Q: Some students complain of not getting something which was promised at the time of admission at a certain institute. They have to deal with several challenges like the admissions don’t begin in time, core faculty is not there, students have to study on their own. How does a student deal with such institutes?

Dr. Mantha: We must understand that we have a merit system. The students go into a college as per their eligibility. It’s very important to ensure that your time at an institute is effectively spent, thus, students must prepare well and get into a decent college. But because everyone can not get into top colleges, students end up getting admission into tier-II or tier-III colleges where such issues may be happening. The first point of contact, as I said earlier, for such issues is the grievance redressal committee of the institute. Its job is to listen, investigate the complaints of the students and resolve those and create awareness about the role and existence of the committee. At the university level, there is a committee at the department level where the complaints have to be made first. If they are not resolved at the department level, then it needs to be taken to the university grievance redressal committee. But still, if a student is not satisfied, then he/she can reach out to the ombudsman, who is appointed by the state government.

Q: A student took admission in a college last year but had to leave it later. The college is asking her to pay the full fee for transfer certificate. What should she do?

Dr. Mantha: First, it’s very clear that no institute can ask for the full fee as a principle. But if you cancel the admission, there are the refund and other rules. Under RTE 2005, all the institutions have to put all kind of data, details and refund rules on their portal. In fact, the brochure is not to be charged as the details available on it are available on the official website too. Regarding the refund, there are levels as per the days within which the refund percentage can be claimed against the admission withdrawal or cancellation. And if the seat is withdrawn after a month, then no refund can be claimed.

Q: So, shall this student go to the university or to the UGC?

Dr. Mantha: If she is into technical education, then she has to go to the institute and then the university. If she is into other courses than technology, then she has to reach out to the UGC.

Q: You spoke about putting the refund policy on the college portals, but there are many institutes who don’t do it.

Dr. Mantha: Those institutes are not many. Even during my tenure at the AICTE, there would be 15-20 per cent of the institutes who would not do that and when we would penalise them or their admissions would be stopped for a year or two, they too would fall in line. In such a large system with more than 10,000 technical institutes and over 45,000 other institutions affiliated to some or the other university, such things can happen. It’s very important that the role of the regulator becomes that of an enabler rather than policing per se and make people see the reason to put the data online. Even the Right to Education says that.

Q: Some fake claims are made about placement while the story is completely contrary. There are hidden clauses like a student needs to have 90 attendance or students are asked to sign a letter that says that he himself is withdrawing from the placement. What regulation do we have for such cases when a student is denied the placement or a chance to sit in the placement drive?

Dr. Mantha: Nobody can deny the right to any student to sit for the placement unless they have a specified rule for it. Some companies need students of a certain calibre. So, the whole system works on that basis. If a student doesn’t fit into the requirement of any organisation, then she/she can not blame the institute. And institutes put these details on their website.

Coming to the point of rigging placement data, we need to see that placement is a function of several parameters. Thus, details like how many students were eligible, as students with back papers can’t sit for the placement need to be found out. Several such details need to be found out to know the exact scenario. Generally, where the passing rate of the students is high, the placement is higher there and at such colleges, the number of companies participating in the placements is higher. But still, if a student feels that the right of sitting in the placements (even after meeting the eligibility) is being denied, then he/she has to follow the process of grievance redressal.

Q: As an overall number of placements, most of the institutions are setting up structures, regulations which are internal, which actually brings down the cohort size to less than half and then they start going about placing them. This is the first part of the question. The second part of the question is, assuming that the colleges are unable to place a few students, the institutions make them withdraw out of the placements with their signatures.

Dr. Mantha: Anything done in coercion (which is against the role or position) is not correct. Secondly, the institutions also have to look at the quality. Most of the accreditation agencies have placements as a very important parameter. Even in the market, there aren’t enough number of jobs for eligible students. Therefore, whenever we have this kind of mismatch between the numbers which are claimed and what actually are, there is always a filtering mechanism which depends on the demand and supply. The only alternative to this situation is to bring in more companies to the campus so that every student get a job, but with a salary differential. Even during my time at the AICTE, we had a lot of challenges in terms of finding placements for the students from Kerala or the northeast where the industry connect is very low. Thus, a mechanism has to be brought in place to make all students eligible for placements.

Q: Can a student ask the college for a checked answer sheet during external exams?

Dr. Mantha: Every university examination has two parts – one is internal exams and the other one is external. As far as the issue of getting access to the answer key, both are same, students can get access to internal as well as the external exam answer key.

Q: Some students complain that there are no equal opportunities for DU students for placement and discrimination happens based on the DU college one studies in.

Dr. Mantha: A university can not play favourites among the affiliated colleges. I agree that some problem may happen within the university system, but that won’t be substantiated by the companies that come for campus placements. The students have ample opportunities to reach out to the companies through their portals. But still, if some specific case is there, then again such cases can be cited as grievances.

Q: Where do students complain if university teachers fail students due to misunderstanding, ego or biases?

Dr. Mantha: First of all, discrimination has to be proved. Secondly, the student can get his/her answer keys accessed (unofficially) by some other professor or so. Further, a complaint can be submitted to the college/university against discrimination. But, still, if the student feels that justice is not done, then there are courts and other grievance mechanisms outside the university system.

Q: A student graduated with an engineering degree in 2017 from RTU but didn’t collect her degree in that year. Now the college is not providing her original degree. What does the student do in such a situation?

Dr. Mantha: By following the procedure or mechanism, the student can get the original degree. But she has to apply for it by writing an application. She has to reach out to the controller of the examination of that respective university. She may also contact the registrar or the vice-chancellor of the university.

Q: There are challenges within the college and students keep on complaining that for everything there’s a monetary fine. So, why everything ends up with a monetary fine? Is it money-making or what?

Dr. Mantha: Though it doesn’t sound logical, everyone thinks that because a student is not earning and if the monetary fine is levied, the student will become more responsible, given the case that it would be tough for the student to pay the fine. But, in my view, this logic won’t work very well. What institutes/universities should do is to conduct orientation programmes where they are told about the dos and don’ts and about the penalties and fines too. But levying fine for everything is not right.

Q: During the admissions, the students pay the fee and submits the original certificates too. Now, as per AICTE’s rule, the original certificates need to be given back to the students. But the contrary happens and students can’t exercise their rights for getting admission in a better college or course. What is your advice for students with respect to getting their original certificates submitted and getting them back for exercising better options?

Dr. Mantha: As per the rule, the original certificates need to be shown, not deposited and students or the owner of the certificates must take them back after showing. This rule must be implemented across institutes. Second, students should be educated on this at an earlier stage, about the procedure. Any university or institution can not retain the original certificates of the students, they can only check and verify and then return them to the students thereafter.

Q: What is the time frame or window for retaining those certificates?

Dr. Mantha: There is no time frame here. Students should know that the original certificates are not to be submitted, but just shown as per the time they are demanded. Also, the other part of the story is that admission cycles are different at different institutes, so as a progression, students keep on jumping from one institute to the other for better options. Now, if so many seats at different colleges are blocked by some students, then those institutes can’t bear the brunt of the seats not being filled. They will be at a loss. Therefore, the admission cycle should be uniform across the institutes to avoid these challenges or else we will continue to have such challenges.

Q: Because of the different admission cycles, we have some colleges that claim to begin the session a little early than other colleges, which actually happens on papers only. How do students manoeuvre around this forfeiture and the refund policy at the admission cycle?

Dr. Mantha: We can not generalise this. It’s the student’s call to decide upon the college of their choice for admission.

Q: Students are charged a certain amount by the colleges which is refundable, but when it comes to refunding the amount, the institutions start creating problems. What is your take on this?

Dr. Mantha: For any type of grievance, the student can go to the college, university grievance committee or to the ombudsman. Out of the caution money or otherwise, except the deduction for the penalty or any fine, rest of the remaining amount has to be refunded by the institute to the student.

Q: According to our conversation, the onus is on the student or the parent. But, not many students who are actually victims dare to go to the university or the VC for getting their grievance resolved.

Dr. Mantha: They can even reach out to the agencies, media or court. The student can’t even stay anonymous if the refund has to be claimed, nobody will refund the money to an anonymous. So, it’s the student who has to raise the question or go to the court and nobody else.

Q: Is there any constitutional act or regulation that supports capitation fee or the donation?

Dr. Mantha: There’s nothing like capitation fee or donation. If someone is asking you for that, then it’s your fundamental right to make a complaint and get that addressed. It’s illegal if that’s happening.

Q: A lot of seats are offered through a lot of agents. What’s your take on this?

Dr. Mantha: Because parents and students themselves go to these agents or agencies, they themselves are creating problems. They can’t first create problems and then find solutions. They should know about their right, duties and responsibilities and then act responsibly within that purview. Still, if something goes wrong, then that would be considered as a genuine problem or complaint.

Q: Can a student change the college after the first or second semester within the university? If yes, what is the procedure?

Dr. Mantha: There is a standard system for it and it’s not done after the semester, it’s done after the year. Where there’s a semester system, it is done after the second semester. To do that, first of all, there has to be a genuine or strong reason. Secondly, the student has to find out if seats are really available in the programme at the college where a transfer is sought. Further, the institute has to be informed (where the student currently studies) and a no-objection certificate has to be obtained. If it’s within the university, then it won’t be much of a problem, as the curriculum would be the same, but if it’s about a college affiliated to some other university, then the eligibility has to be met and the university and concerned college will further take a call. But, I would say that it’s not encouraged within the university to take transfers, as the student in such a case will be violating the merit.

Q: In a medical condition, a student has submitted the medical certificate, but still the college is asking for a certain attendance. Can you please throw some light on this?

Dr. Mantha: If it’s an affiliated college, then the university has standard rules for that. Even with medical conditions, there’s a minimum percentage (it may be 60 percent) of attendance which needs to be met. Without meeting that and purely on medical basis, the student can not be permitted to go to the next class. It’s better to drop that year and reappear again.

Q: Any advice you would want to give to the student community?

Dr. Mantha: Students must do a lot of R&D, read through the official websites of the colleges or universities they want to opt for. Also, things like courses offered and all should be checked too. Before taking admission, students should gather a lot of information about the university or college. They should not simply follow their friends and get admitted to any college.

For the future, I would advise them not to only depend on their degree, but to also continue to polish their skills and pursue their passion during the 4 years of their degree. Also, students should get themselves into streams which are in things now, as things are changing rapidly. For example, the way data analytics, AI, machine learning functions today, won’t be the same on the coming years. Cognitive activities, multitasking, liberal arts, foreign language, human resource management will come in very handy in the time to come. So, students should think about these.