AICTE asks students to ensure validity of degrees issued by foreign institutions

The AICTE, in a public notice, said that there have been instances where students are going to other countries for obtaining undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in technical courses which were not recognised and students run from pillar to post for their authentication and equivalence.

Accordingly, the validity equivalence of such foreign degrees awarded is at times not at par with the degrees awarded to students passed from Indian institutions.

The council said such students after obtaining degrees from foreign universities are facing issues in getting the opportunities in India (government/private sector) jobs or higher education even after spending huge amounts of fees to obtain such non-equivalent technical degrees.

AICTE said that it had taken cognizance of the issue and in order to avoid financial burden on parents of such students, were issuing the warning that student must carefully ensure the validity of the degrees.

It said, therefore, students seeking admissions to the various programmes of studies, which promise an award of a foreign qualification, were hereby advised to ensure that these programmes meet the eligibility requirements for according equivalence as specified by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

The council also advised the students to read the information brochure of the AIU on the equivalence of foreign degrees, which could be downloaded free of cost from the portal.

The AICTE further added that an Indian national or overseas citizen of the country, who intends to take admissions in higher education in engineering and technology programme in Pakistan should require to obtain 'No Objection' certificate from the AICTE.

The student should apply for such clearance in the prescribed proforma available on the AICTE portal.