Hyderabad: No Detention for BE Students at Osmania University This Year
There will be no detention for Bachelor of Engineering (BE) students at Osmania University this academic year. The government has also decided to hold a meeting with autonomous colleges to ensure uniformity in credit scores and detention policies across institutions.
This issue was raised by AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi during the question hour in the Assembly on Monday. Owaisi inquired whether the university had issued orders to enforce the detention policy for BE students admitted in the academic year 2023-24 and onwards.
Responding on behalf of the Chief Minister, Health Minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha stated that the detention policy had indeed been introduced by the university. He explained that although the detention system has been in place for many years at Osmania University, students were exempted from these rules during the academic years 2020-21 to 2022-23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy resumed in the 2023-24 academic year.
The minister clarified that students need to earn at least 50% of the prescribed credits for their semester exams to avoid detention. Out of 2,535 students who appeared for the exams, 2,205 were promoted, while 330 students were detained.
Owaisi raised concerns about inconsistencies in policies across different universities. He noted that while Osmania University requires 50 credits for promotion, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) mandates only 35 credits. He also pointed out that some autonomous colleges adopt more lenient policies and promote students even with lower credits. He questioned how the pass percentages would compare if different universities maintained inconsistent credit requirements.
Highlighting the increasing dropout rates in engineering courses, Owaisi urged the government to intervene. He suggested implementing a uniform syllabus and credit policy for JNTU, Osmania University, and autonomous colleges to address these disparities. He also recommended forming inspection teams to monitor the practices of autonomous universities.
In response, the minister assured that the government had agreed in principle to cancel detentions for this year. He also confirmed that a meeting would be held with engineering colleges to discuss and establish uniform policies across institutions.
