Mumbai: In a major embarrassment for University of Mumbai (MU), several affiliated colleges have returned or are in the process of returning convocation certificates after discovering a glaring “typographical error” — the university’s name was misspelt as “University of Mumabai” over the logo.

The university has acknowledged the error and assured that corrected certificates will be reissued “without additional costs”, but students remain anxious as the delay could affect their job placements and admissions for higher studies.

The convocation ceremony for the 2023-24 batch took place on January 7, where over 1.64 lakh students graduated. While MU officials confirmed that some colleges received certificates with the university’s name misspelt, they insisted that PhD students were handed error-free certificates during the event, which was presided over by Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan.

“This is not the first time the university has sent degrees with misspelt or incorrect names of students. But this time, the university’s own name was misspelt. It felt like a fake degree, which would have done more harm than good for our students,” said the principal of an affiliated college. The principal further stated that their college had promptly returned the certificates to the university and demanded fresh ones at the earliest.

Another principal criticised the university’s lack of oversight. “The printing of certificates is outsourced to a Hyderabad-based firm. But the university should have ensured that at least its own name was spelt correctly. It is indeed an embarrassing scenario for an institution that takes pride in its reputation.”

For students who have secured jobs or admissions abroad, the mistake has sparked anxiety. “I already have a job and will be joining later this month. As a fresher, I am required to submit my final degree to the employer on the joining day. Now, because of the university’s lack of oversight, it will take more time for the fresh degrees to arrive. I hope I am able to explain the delay to my employers with the help of media reports,” said a student who graduated this year.

In response to the outrage, MU issued a statement attributing the mistake to a “printing error” and assured that it is working on rectifying the issue. “Due to a printing error, some certificates were issued with typographical mistakes. We are currently rectifying the issue. Rest assured, the university will provide a fresh certificate at no additional cost,” said an MU spokesperson.

Attempting to allay concerns, the university added that steps have already been taken to stop the distribution of the flawed certificates and ensure a swift replacement. “We have already stopped the distribution of the current batch of printed certificates and are working closely with the vendors to ensure that the fresh ones with correct details arrive soon. It will not take much time,” the spokesperson told The Free Press Journal, urging students “not to panic.”

However, for students whose careers and further studies hinge on timely documentation, the blunder has already caused significant distress. MU’s reputation has taken a hit over what should have been a routine administrative task, raising serious questions about the institution’s quality control measures.