Past imperfect, future uncertain

NEW DELHI: It was an order meant for Chhattisgarh, but it is already creating panic in Delhi.
With the Supreme Court''s order on the closure of 97 private universities in Chhattisgarh on Friday, there is great uncertainty looming over the future of thousands of students in Delhi.
Reason being: Delhi has colleges affiliated to the private universities in Chhattisgarh.Among the institutions affected by the ruling are Rai, Amity, Kalinga and NIILM.
With this ruling, the panic-stricken students of these colleges are wondering where there future is headed to.
Tejveen Kaur, a second year psychology student had applied for an 18-month diploma course from one such college.
On the orientation day the faculty convinced the students to go in for a degree course which was for 2 years, since their affiliation with Chhattisgarh had given them a status of being a university.
"Majority of us preferred a degree to a diploma, but today the degree is not even recognised. I have serious doubts of pursuing my masters," says Tejveen.
Also, if the decision taken by the government is against these private institutes it would result in restarting the academic career of thousands of students.
These sentiments are echoed by Upasana, a second year Bachelor of Business Administration student.
"Derecognising our degrees could have an adverse affect on our future. This means I''m still a 12th pass. It could result in lakhs of rupees and three years of my life getting wasted," Upasana says.
Upasana is also pursuing a language course from Amity, which is a part of her BBA programme. Fortunately, the course is affiliated to the Cambridge University and would be unaffected.
While students are panicky, teachers and management are no less alarmed.
The chairman of the Amity group, Mr Atul Chauhan refused to speak on the future of the students. "Until the details of the order passed by the SC are not revealed, we aren''t in a position to comment. The order was passed in a prayer to remove bad quality universities and Amity clearly does not fall into that category," he says.
Faculties of these institutes are also trying to placate the students. "A solution to this problem would soon come out. Just be patient. They can''t jeopardise the future of so many students," says a senior faculty member, addressing a group of students.
While some got their answers, there are an unfortunate many who are still in the dark.
Three students pursuing Bachelors in Computer Application came to their college on an off day in search of answers to the questions that haunted them.
"No faculty member from our department has come to the college today. Our future hangs in the dark but nobody seems to be bothered," says one of the students.
Perturbed, there are some students who are considering correspondence courses from Delhi University while others are hoping that the ''brand value'' that their respective institutes carry might get them a job.
However, amidst all this fiasco, there are some who hailed the decision. "If the private institutes haven''t adhered to the rules then it is a good step taken by the government," says a professor on the condition of anonymity.
Expounding, he says, "We are dealing with the aspirations and future of thousands of children and this problem should be seriously addressed by the education sector."