UGC Bars Affiliation to Technical Colleges

India’s higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission (UGC), has asked all 566 universities not to affiliate any technical or management colleges till guidelines and regulations for technical courses are put in place.

The UGC’s missive comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s April 25 judgment, which put management, or MBA programmes, outside the pale of “technical” education. The top court was of the view that approval from the technical education regulator, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), was not required for MBA programmes offered by private institutions.

The Supreme Court had said that AICTE’s role vis-a-vis universities was “only advisory, recommendatory and one of providing guidance, and has no authority empowering it to issue or enforce any sanctions by itself ”. Citing its order in the Bharathidasan University and Parshvanath Charitable Trust case, the court said that AICTE norms could be applied through the UGC. As a result, the AICTE cannot directly “control” or “supervise” these affiliated colleges.

UGC will evolve a suitable methodology to ensure that the standards and quality in technical and engineering colleges affiliated to universities is not diluted. In his letter to vice-chancellors, UGC secretary Akhilesh Gupta wrote, “It is of utmost importance that universities having power of affiliation exercise take due care and diligence while granting permanent affiliation or affiliation to new technical colleges. Any dilution of standards of technical education at this juncture would also belie the trust reposed by the Supreme Court in the sanctity of the autonomy of the universities.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has been considering an ordinance to address the legal lacunae highlighted by the court, which made it possible to put management programmes outside the purview of the AICTE. The Supreme Court had pointed out that MBA and MCA courses were brought under AICTE and included in its function through an amendment of its regulations without placing them in Parliament, which was mandatory under Section 24 of the AICTE Act.

HRD minister Pallam Raju had also said that the ministry was considering moving a review petition of the SC order.

Source: The Economic Times, June 13, 2013

>500 technical colleges may face closure over violations

>The government could soon ask 500 management, engineering and other technical education colleges to close for varying offences ranging from violating land rules to cheating students. A senior official in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) said this was the outcome of a review of complaints by parents and students, and a scrutiny of documents submitted by the colleges to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), India’s apex technical education regulator. “At least 500 technical education colleges have already been raided in the last few months across India,” added this person, who did not want to be named. M.K. Hada, member secretary, AICTE, confirmed the development and said the exercise was aimed at “cleaning up the system and bringing transparency in the technical education space.”

The ministry official said the concerned authorities have already prepared a report based on the “surprise raids” and are hearing what the erring institutes have to say. “We believe in fair play and hence have given a chance to these colleges to give their version. At least 210 such colleges have already made their points by person to the AICTE.”

The move has come nearly one-and-a-half-years after the University Grants Commission (UGC), the key university education regulator, “blacklisted” 44 deemed universities for failing quality and infrastructure parameters. The deemed university issue is now pending in the Supreme Court following these institutes moving court.

After hearing the colleges, the expert panel, comprising 21 experts and officials from the technical education field, will decide on how many should be sent closure notices, the official added. Both AICTE and the ministry official said the names of the institutes would be made public after the entire procedure is completed. Without giving names, Hada said at least 10 colleges have already been served the withdrawal-of-approval notice. “This is a first-of-its-kind step by AICTE. We want fair play for all—students, parents, educational institutes and the education system. They are free to appeal again.”

The surprise checks are conducted by three persons—two educational experts and an architect. They verify several credentials such as land transfer and ownership, building plans, infrastructure, quality of education and faculty among other things. The ministry official says of the 500 colleges, a majority of them are teaching engineering and management courses. States such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu lead in the number of colleges being examined.

There are some 8,000 technical education institutions in the country, with at least two million students pursuing technical education courses. An estimated 50,000 students are enrolled in the 500 colleges under scanner, according to the ministry official. Once an institute faces closure, the concerned state government will be responsible for shifting the students to another institute, the official said.

Such scrutiny is critical for maintaining standards, said. Veeraraghavan, a former education secretary. “Powerful people are running professional colleges. (They) are making money and AICTE must come down hard on them,” he said. “I believe AICTE should engage in constant inspection and work with them with a focus on substance in curricula and teaching methods.” The quality checks should be conducted by permanent employees rather than temporary ones as is the practice now, Veeraraghavan added.

AICTE was cleaned up after some of its top officials were arrested for corruption in 2009. After their removal, the ministry restructured the council, which has taken several pro-active measures to streamline the technical education sector in the country in the last 18 months. The most important of these was the e-application and e-approval system adopted by AICTE since the last academic session. It also asked all colleges for details of both physical and intellectual infrastructure, including details of faculty and their qualifications.

Source: Mint, April 15, 2011