Unapproved insts now under AICTE lens

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates technical education in the country, will now conduct inspection for around 44 unapproved institutions that have been running technical programmes in collaboration with foreign institutes without its approval.

The AICTE had, in March, released a list of around 104 such institutes on its website like the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai; HR College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai; Indian Institute of Planning and Management, Delhi; JD Birla Institute of Business Management, Kolkata; Kohinoor College of Management and College of Hospitality Management and Catering, Mumbai; and Pearl Academy of Fashion, New Delhi.

These institutes run programmes ranging from master's in management, engineering, hospitality management and diploma in fashion technology.

"Of the 104 institutes, which run technical programme with foreign collaboration, we got applications from only 44 institutes fulfiling the criteria so far. Now we will conduct inspection of these institutes and give them approval accordingly. For instance, if there are institutes which run their courses on leased premises, we will give them six months' to find a permanent location. For institutes which are not registered as a trust or society, we will give two months to fulfill necessary formalities," said an AICTE official.

After the regulatory body will conduct inspections, in a month's time, it will inform these institutes whether or not they meetthe AICTE's norms. If they do not, they will not be allowed to conduct fresh admissions for the next academic year till they seek proper approval.

If these institutes fail to meet the AICTE norms state government will be approached to close unapproved institutions operating in their regions.

"A fact is that a lot of these institutes were approved by AICTE otherwise.They have, however, not sought approval from AICTE to run programmes in collaboration with foreign institutes. And if they do not meet our conditions on running these courses, they will have to cancel these programmes," said the AICTE official.

If these institutes fail to meet AICTE norms, the regulatory body has decided to approach state governments and ask them to close unapproved institutions operating in their regions.

In fact, in total there are 273 such institutes which fall in the list of unapproved insititutes. These institutes are classified in two categories "" one which run technical unapproved programmes in collaboration with foreign institutes and the other which have not sought the AICTE's approval at all for running their technical programmes. Of these 273 institutes, around 150 institutes may face the axe.

The AICTE will issue notices to the state governments and to these institutes early next week.

Many institutes, however, said they will take an action on this issue once they get the notice in hand. Said ICFAI institute's spokesperson, "We have not received any notice from the AICTE as yet. However, we just provide academic support to the students from our various campuses."

AICTE though wants to leave the option open for these institutes. "When these institutes put their infrastructure in place, they can reapply to us for an approval," the AICTE official added.