AICTE’s Revised Norms for Setting up New Institutes

Technical education in the country may be ready to witness large scale expansion but apprehension about quality haunts the experts and students alike.

Education minister Kapil Sibal, on Thursday, may have brought good cheer for technical and management aspirants by announcing an increase in the number of available seats in technical institutes by as much as 50 per cent, but his plans could result in compromising quality standards.

Sibal unveiled new norms revised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for setting up technical, management and architecture institutes across the country. The new norms, allowing for an increase in the number of institutes and seats in various courses, will come into effect immediately.

“Overall, we are trying to put in place incentives for the expansion of the education sector,” Sibal said, adding: “We have moved to the era of ‘self- disclosure’ from the institutes as far as infrastructure and facilities are concerned.” The reforms include sharply raising the number of seats in each class from 40 to 60.
   
However, it is not clear as to how will the AICTE monitor the expansion of institutes and what action will be taken in non compliance with the norms. The AICTE has acknowledged that it could not be expected to scrutinise all the 10,300 courses offered at 8,000 technical and management institutes recognised by it.

With Inputs From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.