Gujarat High Court Tells Varsities not to Make Degrees Farcical

The Gujarat High Court observed that every university must maintain high educational standards and not make their degrees farcical, even as it refused to direct a varsity to grant affiliation to a nursing college, which had certain deficiencies in infrastructure and faculty staff.

Justice J.B. Pardiwala further said, “It must be understood that a university is a centre of higher learning and must maintain very high standards. A degree from a university must reflect the knowledge which that degree holder possesses. If for instance, a person is granted an M.Sc. degree in Physics from a university but does not even have the knowledge of a high school student in Physics, then that degree will obviously be farcical.”

“It is well known that in our country in many states, such farcical degrees have been granted and this obviously adversely affects the educational standards in the country. If our country is to progress, high standards of education must be maintained, and this requires academic rigor. Education is a sacred matter, and strict discipline and high standards must be maintained in this connection,” the court observed.

Upholding Sardar Patel University’s decision to not renew the affiliation of Vinayaka College of Nursing in Nadiad, the Gujarat HC observed, “No college can claim affiliation as of right. It is only for the university in its discretion to grant affiliation or not. This court cannot arrogate to itself the powers to grant affiliation, nor can it direct the university to grant affiliation.”

“An act which the statutory authority has to do cannot be done by this court, and this court must exercise restraint in this connection,” the court said.