Colleges barred from taking students' original documents

MUMBAI: City students will no longer need to queue up outside universities and colleges for collecting their original mark sheets and leaving certificates as the University Grants Commission, the apex body of higher education in India, has issued a notification barring institutions from taking students’ original documentation at the time of admissions.

Adding to this, the student can even get a 100 per cent refund in case he or she decides to withdraw from any programme. City students are happy with the move as they have been set free from all these tedious rules laid down by universities and colleges.

The notification issued by the UGC says, “No student will be required to submit original academic and personal certificates like mark sheets, school leaving certificates etc. at the time of submission of the admission form. In case required, the institution concerned will only ensure verification of the same with the original certificates and these certificates shall be returned to the students immediately. No institution can take any original certificate into their custody.”

Before this announcement by the UGC, colleges and universities would ask students to submit their original documents which were kept with the institutions till completion of the academic year. After the programme ended, the students had to come to the office and collect their original documents.

“It is a really tedious process, especially when you have to take these documents from one college and submit it to another college for other courses. There were clashes most of the time because of the dates and so many students gathering to get their certificates. This announc-ement is indeed a relief for students, especially the ones who complete their degree and look for admissions to universities outside the state or nation,” said Rajeev Sharad, a student.Prasad Dwivedi, another student, said that the move spelled freedom from unwanted rules for students.

The UGC has also asked all universities and affiliated colleges to collect fees in advance only for the semester or year in which a student wants to engage in academic activities.

This means collecting advance fees for the entire programme has been prohibited. As per the new guidelines, if a student wants to withdraw from a programme and if he or she does so in 15 days or more, he or she will get 100 per cent refund.

If he or she decides to withdraw within 15 days before the formally notified last date of admission, he or she will get 90 per cent refund. Likewise, if it’s after 15 days, students will get 80 per cent refund while if it’s between 16 days and 30 days after the date, the refund will be 50 per cent. The caution money and security deposit, which are not part of the chargeable fee, will be refundable in full.