Digital records will be accepted during inspections: AICTE

Digital records will be accepted during inspections: AICTE

He told Express that the council was considering mandating digitising of academic records in a bid to prevent harassment of faculty by retention of original certificates.

By Express News Service

CHENNAI : Colleges need not present original certificates for inspection; digital records archived by the National Academics Depository will be accepted by all government bodies, said M Sundaresan,  Southern Regional Director of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

He told Express that the council was considering mandating digitising of academic records in a bid to prevent harassment of faculty by retention of original certificates. “When the records are verified and stored with the government authorised depository, there will be no need for us to look into the original hard copy,” he said.

Even though it is illegal, most self-financing colleges withhold academic certificates claiming that it is easier to submit during inspections if the colleges hold on to it. “AICTE has issued multiple circulars to colleges asking them to not obtain and withhold the original academic records of faculty members. Despite our repeated warnings, many colleges continue to hold on to the certificates,” he said.

Each year, self-financing colleges go through seven or eight inspections conducted by AICTE, UGC, NAAC and other bodies, in which, faculty may be asked to produce their original certificates upon demand. Many colleges, however, do not return the certificates after the inspections and hold them as leverage, when a faculty quits.

Sundaresan is currently investigating the course of events that led to the suicide of T Vasanthavanan, a faculty from Sree Saastha Institute of Engineering and Technology. Vasanthavanan killed himself after the college in which he worked allegedly harassed him when he tried to get back his certificates. “We have spoken to the family members of the deceased faculty. We will also investigate the management of the college,” he said.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2019/jan/09/digital-records-will-be-accepted-during-inspections-aicte-1922557.html