UGC takes over reins of technical institutes

Education

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-27/news/46684209_1_technical-institutes-law-ministry-aicte-act

UGC takes over reins of technical institutes

Akshaya Mukul, TNN Jan 27, 2014, 05.10AM IST

NEW DELHI: University Grants Commission's takeover of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is complete as far as degree-granting technical institutes are concerned. UGC has formally notified the regulations to be followed by technical institutes affiliated to universities.

UGC's regulations come in the wake of a Supreme Court order which negated AICTE's power to grant approval to technical colleges affiliated to universities. With new regulations in place, it is unlikely that AICTE's hope of getting its power restored through amendment of AICTE Act will be realized anytime soon. But AICTE can continue to regulate diploma-granting institutions.

"Chances of getting AICTE Act amended is remote. The next session of Parliament will be short and then there is general election," an HRD ministry official said.

As the amendment route was getting delayed, HRD ministry tried to circumvent the SC order by asking law ministry "if rules can be notified under section 25 of the UGC Act to authorize AICTE to accord approval to technical education institutions in the same manner as it did prior to the SC judgment". However, the law ministry shot down the proposal.

UGC regulation makes it mandatory for a college to first seek affiliation from the university before starting academic activities. A new college proposing to offer technical education can be created by introducing one or more programmes housed either in one or separate buildings.

The new college shall be granted affiliation when it is on one contiguous plot of land except for those in north-eastern and other hilly states where it can spread into three pieces of land, not far from one another, by more than one kilometer.

Apart from a host of regulations, technical institutes will have to keep 50% faculty from general shift for the evening shift. Each part-time course will be managed by 20% core staff i.e. minimum one associate professor and two assistant professors. Guest faculty should not be more than 30% to be sourced from neighbouring industries/R&D organizations/government technical colleges.

B-schools welcome compromise between UGC and AICTE

Wednesday, January 15, 2014 | 01:00 PM IST

http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/b-schools-welcome-compromise-between-ugc-and-aicte-114011300034_1.html

B-schools welcome compromise between UGC and AICTE

The decision was taken after a Supreme Court order had left AICTE in the role of an advisor, a shift from being a regulator earlier

Manu Balachandran & Kalpana Pathak  |  New Delhi  

January 13, 2014 Last Updated at 00:30 IST

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Institutes offering Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) courses have welcomed the compromise formula reached by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD), according to which the University Grants Commission (UGC) will regulate B-schools offering a masters' degree in management and are affiliated to universities, while the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will regulate independent B-schools offering PGDM.

Private B-schools, however, want the decision to be formalised and announced soon. A senior official at a private B-school said the decision was informally conveyed to them by the MHRD. The decision was taken after a Supreme Court order had left AICTE in the role of an advisor, a shift from being a regulator earlier.

AICTE Chairman Shankar S Mantha said he was not aware of a decision. "AICTE is not fighting for PGDM institutions alone. We are here for technical education. As an Act of Parliament, AICTE's powers must be restored."

H Chaturvedi, director, Birla Institute of Management Technology, said: "This is a good move but we want this to be formalised."

With Common Admission Test results being announced on Tuesday, B-schools wanted a speedy resolution to this issue, as AICTE's permission is needed to run programmes and for expansion of seats. These institutes were planning to approach the Supreme Court, as the imbroglio threatened to derail their plans for the next academic session.

Chaudhari Prasad, chairman-admissions at TA Pai Management Institute, said: "The general feeling is that independent B-schools should not be overseen by the UGC. But we cannot comment unless the government comes out with an announcement. The students should not be affected by all this confusion."

Private B-schools are also expected to meet the MHRD later this month. They propose the creation of an All India Board of Management Study to specifically deal with PGDM courses.

Pritam Singh, director of International Management Institute, Delhi, said: "MHRD has realised the concerns of PGDM institutions and we welcome this move. The way forward now will be to provide more autonomy and freedom to the PGDM institutions."

Last month, to address the absence of AICTE as a regulator, UGC had proposed independent B-schools, which follow their own curriculum and set their own course fees, would also be required to obey the guidelines and seek affiliation to universities that function under UGC and adopt their syllabus. Following protests by the institutes, the UGC decided not to extend the regulations to independent B-schools, which have been worried about losing their autonomy.

AICTE Chairman Shankar S Mantha said he was not aware of a decision. He said he had maintained that AICTE's powers be restored. "AICTE is not fighting for PGDM institutions alone. We are here for technical education. As an Act of Parliament, AICTE's powers must be restored."

The apex court ruling, which left the AICTE as an advisor, was the result of a dispute between Bharathidasan University in Tamil Nadu and AICTE over the need for approval of technical courses in colleges that come under the state university and, therefore, under the UGC.

UGC comes up with new regulations

UGC comes up with new regulations

INDIA TODAY ONLINE  NEW DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2014 | UPDATED 19:24 IST

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has passed new regulations related to technical education and distance education.
At a meeting of the commission, as per the newly passed regulations, technical colleges will now be regulated by the Universities.
According to the new regulation, the universities have been empowered to grant recognition and approval to the colleges that offer engineering programs leading to an award of a degree.

As per the sources, before granting the approval, the universities need to develop their own mechanism for screening of proposal and inspection of Institution. The sources, however, added that the institutes that are offering a diploma in management programs will continue to be regulated as per the existing practices.

Also the regulation for distance education has been approved. As per this regulation, the universities that offer distance education programs will have to seek approval of UGC for programs leading to the award of a degree.
However, stand-alone institutions will most probably not be covered by the regulation.

About University Grants Commission (UGC):
It is a statutory organization set up by the Union government in 1956, charged with co-ordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of university education. It provides recognition to universities in India and disburses funds to such recognized universities and colleges. 

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/1xeVZ5JNt1XvwoNB1G1oVO/UGC-not-to-regulate-autonomous-Bschools.html

          11 JANUARY 2014

UGC not to regulate autonomous B-schools

UGC chairman says all other professional colleges will have to abide by the new guidelines

Independent B-Schools, which follow their own curriculum and set their own course fees, were also required to obey the guidelines and seek affiliation to universities that function under the UGC and adopt their syllabus. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

New Delhi: Facing resistance from private colleges, the government has decided that guidelines unveiled last month for the oversight of technical institutes will not apply to autonomous B-Schools that have been concerned about losing their autonomy.

The draft guidelines were announced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on 5 December and updated on 23 December to regulate all technical colleges after the Supreme Court on 25 April took them out of the regulatory purview of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Independent B-Schools, which follow their own curriculum and set their own course fees, were also required to obey the guidelines and seek affiliation to universities that function under the UGC and adopt their syllabus.

Their inclusion provoked protests from administrators of these institutes, who argued that the quality of their courses, including the Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) programme, would be compromised and the career prospects of their students harmed.

“We have withdrawn our guidelines to regulate PGDM schools,” UGC chairman Ved Prakash said. “Though we have made some progress, we have now decided to keep all diploma programmes out of our regulatory purview. Business schools providing PGDM will no more come under our supervision.”

“They will run as they used to be earlier,” Prakash said about the functioning of these B-Schools.

The UGC chairman, however, said all other professional colleges, including engineering schools, will have to abide by the new guidelines. On 10 January, the UGC and senior human resource development ministry officials are meeting to find ways to provide affiliation to over 11,000 professional schools.

Last month, several private education providers’ associations met human resource development minister M.M. Pallam Raju to express their reservations about the UGC draft guidelines.

India has more than 300 autonomous B-Schools including XLRI in Jamshedpur; Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad; International Management Institute in Delhi, and Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon. These autonomous B-Schools are also known as PGDM B-Schools because they don’t offer an MBA degree, but award a post-graduate diploma. They were operating without university affiliation but were approved by the AICTE.

Some 180,000 students are studying in these schools.

B-Schools said they hadn’t yet been informed about the government’s decision to spare them from having to follow the UGC guidelines.

“We have not received any formal communication from either the HRD (human resource development) ministry or the UGC about their withdrawal,” said Harivansh Chaturvedi, director of the Birla Institute of Management Technology in Greater Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi.

Chaturvedi, who is also the alternate president of the Education Promotion Society of India, said B-Schools were going ahead with their plan to meet the HRD minister again and explore judicial options.

Even if the UGC decides not to apply the new guidelines to autonomous B-schools, the institutes would still need to be overseen by a regulator, in the absence of which their status would remain uncertain.

Following the Supreme Court order, unless the government amends the AICTE Act, these schools cannot go back to the AICTE’s fold.

Without any regulatory body and government recognition, these PGDM schools will be required to pay a service tax to the government—which they don’t do currently. The legal validity of the degrees they award can be challenged and their students will not be eligible for education loans.

“We need a regulator and government recognition. We seek our legal status and autonomy,” Chaturvedi said.

Kumar Rajiv, a Delhi student who wants to join one of the top B-Schools, said the regulatory confusion needs to be cleared quickly before the admission process starts in a couple of months. “As a student, I would like to know the exact status of the school I am joining. If a B-School is unrecognized, I will hesitate to join it,” he said.