Odisha govt warns students, parents against fake colleges

At a time when admissions to different colleges are set to begin in the state, the Government of Odisha has advised students and parents to check the authenticity of junior colleges before taking admission as a number of fake colleges are operating in the state.

The School and Mass Education Department has asked parents and students to ensure admission through online mode only.

“The admissions for plus two courses in different junior colleges will be done through online mode under Student Academic Management System (SAMS) only. Admission in offline mode will be strictly prohibited,” School and Mass Education Secretary P K Mohapatra was quoted as saying by a news agency.

SAMS is a centralised admission process for all junior colleges affiliated to the state government’s Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).

“It has come to the notice of the government that some fake institutions are coming with advertisements in print and electronic media for admission into higher secondary schools. The students and parents are advised to verify junior colleges and higher secondary schools coming under SAMS in the website of the department before taking admission and avoid such fake admission,” Mohapatra added.

The state government made it clear that students who take admission other than SAMS (e-admission) will not be allowed to appear in the annual plus two or higher secondary education examination conducted by the CHSE.

“Odisha government will not be responsible for any such wrong decisions taken by the students or parents,” he added.

The state government also threatened to take legal action against the institutions which will carry out admissions for plus two courses in offline mode.

“The affiliation of the colleges will also be withdrawn if they do offline admission of students,” he added.

As recently reported, the Delhi government earlier this month had also warned the students and their parents about 12 fake education boards operating in the national capital.

Releasing an order, the Directorate of Education (DoE), Government of Delhi, had stated that only three relevant boards do exist in the national capital.

“There is no state board of government of Delhi. Further, the DoE, which regulates government, private, unaided and aided schools in Delhi, does not grant any recognition to any board,” a DoE notice stated.

 

“As far as Delhi is concerned, there are only three relevant boards — Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS),” it added.

Prior to that, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had on April 24 released a list of 24 fake varsities functioning across the country with eight were found operating in Delhi itself.