The State government’s decision to scrap the Agriculture diploma course in Universities of Agricultural Sciences across the State has come under fire from farmers’ associations, as they say it reduces the opportunity for children of farmers to get training at a low cost.
The Universities of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru and Dharwad had issued notifications for admissions to the two-year Kannada medium diploma in Agriculture, Forestry and Sericulture. However, the notifications have been withdrawn. The websites of the universities cite no reason for it.
University sources say that the State government asked them to discontinue the diploma as it was in line with the New Education Policy (NEP). However, some other officials say that they are closing it down because there is no financial support from the government.
