In a bid to make engineering colleges improve their standards and performance, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has announced that approval for three years will be given to performing colleges.
Apart from this, the Council has also said that those colleges that merit the three-year approval will also benefit from waiver of approval fees for the period. Until now, colleges had to apply for approval from the Council every year and pay a hefty fee for the same. The announcement was made during the all India approval workshop being conducted by the Council at Bengaluru on Sunday.
According to officials from AICTE, the Council is conducting a nationwide workshop for clearing the misconceptions and address related to the approval process.
“As part of the same, around 4,000 university and college officials will be given training for which the Council is conducting a master trainer programme at Bengaluru,” said the official. Under the master trainer programme, around 40 officials from all over India — including nine from Maharashtra — were invited for the programme on Sunday. From Mumbai, Dr M.A. Khan, registrar, University of Mumbai and Dr P.H. Sawant, principal of Sardar Patel College of Engineering, were also invited for the workshop.
Throwing light on the need for giving the three year approval at one go, the AICTE official said, “Engineering colleges have to keep evolving and improving their performance, hence they have to get an approval from the Council every year. However, there are some colleges that have a good track record, have maintained high standards and have a good performance. Such colleges will be granted a three-year approval and the fee will also be waived off,” said the official. He added that the only criteria they require is an autonomous status and valid accreditation for a year from the time they apply for the three-year approval.
The approval process is a lengthy one as colleges have to fill up a 120-page form available online on the AICTE website. The form asks for minute details of the college including infrastructure, academics, course details and student intake among others. Good performing colleges are those that have compliance in almost all fields and hence do not require annual approval. The Council official said the same would be effective from the next academic year.
