This refers to the editorial “Mindless regulation” (March 8). I endorse your view that “AICTE should focus on better and not more regulation”. However, the question is, how does one deal with AICTE’s idiosyncrasies as an existing technical education regulator? Second, how does one deal with compliance issues when many of the AICTE’s guidelines are being questioned and when the matter is subjudice? Although AICTE’s argument that some business schools offer other programmes on the pretext of conducting part-time MBA programmes is valid, it does not give the apex body the right to penalise those business schools that do comply with guidelines.
There are several anomalies and challenges in formulating higher education policies in the country: Who should take the responsibility of providing higher education, who should legitimise it and who should regulate it? In such a situation, issuing new guidelines seems to be aimed more at reconfirming AICTE’s institutional authority than achieving policy objectives.
It is time AICTE involved representatives from private educational institutions in policy formulation rather than resorting to adhoc-ism.
Amit Pradhan, Baroda
Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in
