AICTE makes quota for poor students a must
Institutes offering professional courses will no longer have the option of ignoring AICTE ‘appeal’
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, January 08, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2011010820110108030314912f163a3e3)
Engineering colleges offering degree and diploma programmes will have to offer at least 5 per cent of their seats to economically poor students from the new academic year, All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has said. The seats will be added to their sanctioned intake capacity. The latest AICTE directive is applicable to degree and diploma engineering and pharmacy, hotel management and architecture programmes.
Deposit for management raised to Rs 90 lakh
The national monitoring body has also said that trusts or organisations planning to start a professional college will have to make a deposit of Rs 90 lakh as against Rs 35 that they were required to deposit earlier. To deter fly-by-night operators from entering into education sector and play with the life of students, AICTE will keep the interest on the deposit with it. Earlier the interest money used to be passed on to respective college managements.
AICTE in its latest directive has also asked colleges offering degree and diploma programmes to close distance learning mode as these professional courses require practical sessions which distance learning method was unable to provide the students with.
Explaining the tuition fee waiver for the economically weaker students, AICTE in its directive has said that students whose family income is less than 2.5 lakh will be eligible for the relief. They will have to pay only sundry expenses. Earlier, reserving seats for economically poorer students was not mandatory for colleges.
All that AICTE could do was to appeal for 10 per cent reservation and leave it to college managements to fulfil their social responsibility. These five per cent seats will be distributed in the ratio of one physically challenged, three girls and two open category boys. If students in a given category are not available then, unlike in the past, the seats would become “open”.
About 7000 new seats in degree, diploma courses
“While all professional colleges will have to keep aside 5 per cent of their seats for economically weaker students, there are a few good trusts who go up to 10 per cent. This will lead to an increase in seats by about 7000. Poor students will benefit and this is good for society,” said M N Patel, the member secretary of the Admission Committee for Professional Colleges. Many poor students miss out on getting into government colleges due to a few marks.
Most of them miss out on engineering education as they cannot afford the exorbitant fee of private colleges. The AICTE decision will benefit hundreds of such students, Patel said.
Some private colleges have welcomed the decision. “I have come across many poor students who had to compromise on their choice of trade due to financial constraint. The decision will help them study a branch of their choice,” said Janak Khandwala, the managing trustee of Alpha Engineering College.
“In fact, this is an opportunity for colleges to discharge their social responsibility. When we are teaching 60 students in a division teaching 66 would not put any extra burden on us. The AICTE decision helps you do charity without much effort,” he added.
More seats for BSc students
In order to encourage entry of science students into engineering stream, the council has increased the portion of seats reserved for them in the lateral shift scheme. Now, 20 per cent of the seats meant for lateral movement of diploma holders to degree programmes will be reserved for Bachelor of Science degree holders. Earlier, the portion was 10 per cent.
While taking various measures to ensure sincere players’ entry into the education sector, AICTE has also given college managements the option of increasing their intake capacity. Accordingly, four-year-old colleges from where at least one batch has graduated will be allowed to add two divisions to their capacity.
Less then four-year-old colleges will be allowed to add one division. NAAC-accredited colleges have been given the choice of increasing up to three divisions and colleges who are successfully running second shift and can take in 50 per cent more students.
Dearth of eligible students likely
The opening of these divisions will lead to an increase of up to 9000 engineering seats in the state. However, AICTE has already raised the minimum qualifying marks for admission to professional colleges from 35 per cent 50 per cent and this spells trouble for the colleges.
Last year, 19,000 students who secured 35-50 per cent marks had got admission to engineering and pharmacy colleges, yet 4000 seats remained vacant.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, January 08, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2011010820110108030314912f163a3e3)
Engineering colleges offering degree and diploma programmes will have to offer at least 5 per cent of their seats to economically poor students from the new academic year, All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has said. The seats will be added to their sanctioned intake capacity. The latest AICTE directive is applicable to degree and diploma engineering and pharmacy, hotel management and architecture programmes.
Deposit for management raised to Rs 90 lakh
The national monitoring body has also said that trusts or organisations planning to start a professional college will have to make a deposit of Rs 90 lakh as against Rs 35 that they were required to deposit earlier. To deter fly-by-night operators from entering into education sector and play with the life of students, AICTE will keep the interest on the deposit with it. Earlier the interest money used to be passed on to respective college managements.
AICTE in its latest directive has also asked colleges offering degree and diploma programmes to close distance learning mode as these professional courses require practical sessions which distance learning method was unable to provide the students with.
Explaining the tuition fee waiver for the economically weaker students, AICTE in its directive has said that students whose family income is less than 2.5 lakh will be eligible for the relief. They will have to pay only sundry expenses. Earlier, reserving seats for economically poorer students was not mandatory for colleges.
All that AICTE could do was to appeal for 10 per cent reservation and leave it to college managements to fulfil their social responsibility. These five per cent seats will be distributed in the ratio of one physically challenged, three girls and two open category boys. If students in a given category are not available then, unlike in the past, the seats would become “open”.
About 7000 new seats in degree, diploma courses
“While all professional colleges will have to keep aside 5 per cent of their seats for economically weaker students, there are a few good trusts who go up to 10 per cent. This will lead to an increase in seats by about 7000. Poor students will benefit and this is good for society,” said M N Patel, the member secretary of the Admission Committee for Professional Colleges. Many poor students miss out on getting into government colleges due to a few marks.
Most of them miss out on engineering education as they cannot afford the exorbitant fee of private colleges. The AICTE decision will benefit hundreds of such students, Patel said.
Some private colleges have welcomed the decision. “I have come across many poor students who had to compromise on their choice of trade due to financial constraint. The decision will help them study a branch of their choice,” said Janak Khandwala, the managing trustee of Alpha Engineering College.
“In fact, this is an opportunity for colleges to discharge their social responsibility. When we are teaching 60 students in a division teaching 66 would not put any extra burden on us. The AICTE decision helps you do charity without much effort,” he added.
More seats for BSc students
In order to encourage entry of science students into engineering stream, the council has increased the portion of seats reserved for them in the lateral shift scheme. Now, 20 per cent of the seats meant for lateral movement of diploma holders to degree programmes will be reserved for Bachelor of Science degree holders. Earlier, the portion was 10 per cent.
While taking various measures to ensure sincere players’ entry into the education sector, AICTE has also given college managements the option of increasing their intake capacity. Accordingly, four-year-old colleges from where at least one batch has graduated will be allowed to add two divisions to their capacity.
Less then four-year-old colleges will be allowed to add one division. NAAC-accredited colleges have been given the choice of increasing up to three divisions and colleges who are successfully running second shift and can take in 50 per cent more students.
Dearth of eligible students likely
The opening of these divisions will lead to an increase of up to 9000 engineering seats in the state. However, AICTE has already raised the minimum qualifying marks for admission to professional colleges from 35 per cent 50 per cent and this spells trouble for the colleges.
Last year, 19,000 students who secured 35-50 per cent marks had got admission to engineering and pharmacy colleges, yet 4000 seats remained vacant.
