APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University waters down credit requirement

Thiruvananthapuram: The APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University has amended the clause regarding the credit requirement or moving one semester to the next semester of BTech without facing year-out. The regulation that only students who have a minimum of 35 of the total 47 credits in semesters one and two together will be allowed to register for the third semester has been dropped. As per the new regulation, they can register for the third semester even if they did not have 35 credits but would need to clear 26 credits in semester one and two together for registering for the fourth semester.

The students would also need not clear a minimum of 80 of the total 94 credits for registering for the fifth semester. However, the students would need to clear 71 credits from semester one to four for registering for the sixth semester. They will have to clear 117 credits from semester one to semester six for registering for the seventh semester examinations. Last year, the university had temporarily reduced the number of credits needed for registering for semester three to 26.

Director (academics) of the university T.L. Shaji, on the basis of the decisions of the academic committee of the university held on April 29 and executive committee held on May 11, issued a circular to all engineering college principals on May 18 to this effect. After last year’s examinations, many students who failed to get promoted to the next semester due to the credit requirement had come out against the restrictions. Following this, some students moved the High Court.

However, the High Court had ordered that the year-out system introduced by the university is necessary to maintain high standards in technical education and dismissed a petition filed by students challenging it. However, the university eventually had agreed to amend the BTech regulations on credit requirement for higher semester following pressure from the students.