The city will see two new “autonomous” colleges after the proposal was given approval in the academic council meeting of the Bangalore University (BU) held recently. With this, the number of colleges having autonomous status under the ambit of BU goes up to 17. However, not all are happy with the increase in autonomous colleges that have more control over fee structure, curriculum and examination.
K.N. Ninge Gowda, Registrar (Administration) of the varsity said the Indian Academy at Kalyan Nagar and the Government First grade College, Vijayanagar, have been accorded autonomous status. The colleges will get flexibility in tweaking the syllabus keeping in mind the industry requirements. They can also conduct their own examination and evaluate their own answer scripts. However, the students will be awarded degrees from BU itself. These colleges will also be eligible to receive grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
“These autonomous colleges can start their own courses but will have to keep us informed. However they will have to stick to the intake that we have given them permission for,” Mr. Gowda said.
The autonomous status will be renewed every five years. “In case we receive any complaints that they are violating any of the varsity guidelines, the university has the power to revoke autonomy,” he said.
However, while college managements have welcomed the move, student organisations are sceptical of it. Students Federation of India (SFI) State secretary Gururaj Desai said that there was a need for the university to rethink the autonomy given to these colleges. “After institutions get autonomy, there is very little university control. Colleges hike the fees which causes hardship to the students,” he said.