PANAJI
A sizable number of students from Goa College of Architecture boycotted their classes and held a demonstration on Monday to protest against Council of Architecture (COA) failure to grant them registration, without which they cannot practice as professional architects.
The COA’s non-issuance of registration is affecting those students, who are currently studying their final year of five-year BArch degree course. These students had taken admission in 2019, when, following the government decision, the college had increased the number of seats from 40 to 50 including reserving those for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).
“There is no point in attending the classes as we are without registration number, which is crucial cum mandatory to practice as professional architects,” a student said. The student pointed out that COA registration is granted to some hand-picked students while the majority are yet to be issued.
The final year students pointed out that since 2019, they are without COA registration and despite being repeatedly brought to the notice of the College Principal and Administration, the issue remained unresolved. They said that the registration number is technically issued in the very first year of the degree programme and it continues till we complete study and opt for a professional license.
“We are not going to attend the classes till we get a written assurance or our issue is solved. Without COA registration, this degree has no standing in the field,” the students said.
The students claimed that the Principal, who left the college during working hours, refused to entertain them.
