Sir JJ School of Art finally granted deemed university status under the ‘de novo’ category, which the education minister said would make it the first-of-its-kind in the country. Students and alumnus, however, said there is no clarity on how students will benefit through this.

Minister of Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil said, “Looking at the need for a unique curriculum for—Sir JJ School of Art, Architecture and Design—a proposal was submitted by the Arts directorate to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on March 19, 2020, to develop the syllabus for the benefit the students. Accordingly, a letter of intent was received and this is going to be the first university of its kind in the country. The task force formed under the chairmanship of Dr Vijay Khole had submitted the report, following which the cabinet approved the de-novo status.”