P Kaliraj, who took over as the Vice Chancellor (In Charge) of Anna University on Wednesday, said his priority would be to ensure smooth merger of the Anna Universities of Technology (AUT). Speaking to Express on the first day of the enforcement of the order merging the five AUTs with the University in Chennai, he said the guidelines provided by the Sheela Balakrishnan committee, which has submitted a comprehensive report to the chief minister, would be adhered to.
The focus would be on ensuring parity in infrastructure and quality of education in 17 constituent colleges. The merger process would usher in a common curriculum across affiliated colleges that would be a standard for technical education.
Allaying apprehensions that the merger would result in many pink slips, Kaliraj said job security would be ensured, as pointed out by the higher education minister.
On the thousands of PhD students of the AUTs facing the prospect of guide shortage, he said there were enough guides in the State to ensure a smooth transition. “We could re-apportion the guides in case of any issues. There are guides who have only two or three students and the additional numbers after the merger could be re-apportioned,” he said.
However, any such decision had to be approved by the Syndicate, which will be formed by the government soon. Currently, the varsity had an ad-hoc committee overseeing the administration. On the probe into the recent question paper leak, he said the internal inquiry team would submit its findings to the government soon. “We have identified students who are beneficiaries. The government will be given the report after we finish the probe.”
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