Students stonewalled abroad due to absense of VCs at Chennai varsities

CHENNAI: Graduates and postgrads who have traveled abroad after passing out of colleges which are affiliated to Anna University and University of Madras are up against a wall, They don't have valid certificates because neither varsity has had a vice-chancellor since the year 2016.

After the vice-chancellor M Rajaram left office in May 2016, Anna University students have not received their certificates because there has been no VC to sign them. Universities abroad have refused to admit the graduates from these colleges to postgraduate courses, the students' families say.

Parents worried about the future of their children

City resident S Sujatha is one of the worried parents. Her son graduated with a BE mechanical degree from a city college in 2016 and applied to an Italian university but did not get the admission.
"During the visa process, they have asked us for my son's degree certificate," she said. "Admissions lapse by the end of April. We don't know if the Italian university will accept a letter or provisional certificate from the Anna University."

Another student found that his admission to a European university for an MBA course lapsed due to the lack of a degree certificate.Students from abroad who studied at University of Madras, which has been without a VC since January 2016, face a similar predicament. Many alumni who have returned to their countries have not been able to get jobs because they have no certificates even after completing Ph.D. "A Sri Lankan student of mine failed to get a job because he didn't have a certificate," a Sanskrit department professor said.The state government has appointed three-member VC search panels for both universities, but they are yet to submit names.