Exit scheme: VTU students upset as only those who moved HC get relief

Several students in engineering colleges affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) are upset that only those students who approached the High Court of Karnataka have been granted relief in the form of an exit scheme.

Recently, following a direction from the high court, the university had decided to extend one-time exit scheme to students who had entered the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) in the third and fourth semester. The CBCS system was introduced in 2015 and was applied to the 2014 batch which entered the new system in their second year.

The change in the system caused a problem for those students who failed to clear their first year and got a year back. The differences in the syllabus before and after CBCS complicated matters. The high court heard a bunch of petitions by students of the 2014 batch who were demanding that a one-time exit scheme should be offered to them to get relief from the complications. The court had granted relief, but only to the students who had petitioned before the court.

“There were many of us who had the same problem. Some students who had the money and resources filed a petition with the court and only they were granted relief. Now, they can go to college and attend classes. What about students like us who could not afford to go to court? How is this fair?” questioned Chethan S, an engineering student from the city.

According to the terms of exit scheme, students can continue to the next semester irrespective of backlogs and they will be eligible to take exams of the odd and even semesters if they are eligible. There are several students like Chethan in engineering colleges across the state who are now trying to mobilise support to seek a solution.