Education dept is high on plans, low on execution
Announces partial
autonomy to seven engg colleges in phase 2, despite implementing it in just one
of the six colleges named in phase 1
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Wednesday,
September 04, 2013 at 02:51:29 AM
Of the six institutes
named in phase 1, TEQIP was only implemented in L D College of Engineering,
with marginal success
An optimistic state
education department has announced that it will implement the Technical
Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) in seven new colleges under
phase 2 of its plan, despite the dismal performance in phase 1. Of the six
institutes in phase 1, TEQIP — aimed at giving engineering institutes a higher
level of autonomy — has been implemented in just one. In phase 2, TEQIP is
expected to be implemented in Shantilal Shah Engineering College, and
Government Engineering College in Bhavnagar; Government Engineering College in
Gandhinagar; Government Engineering College in Patan; Government Engineering
College in Rajkot; Lukhdhirji Engineering College in Morbi and BVM Engineering
College in Vallabh Vidhyanagar, said Vinay Purani, joint director, technical
education department.
Once TEQIP is in
place, Gujarat Technological University will only be responsible for conducting
exams and issuing certificates, with all the other responsibilities being
handled by authorities in the respective colleges. “The programme gives
de-facto autonomy to institutes, and allows them to take important decisions
such as faculty recruitment without bureaucratic red-tapism. TEQIP is believed
to increase overall efficiency of colleges by granting them more autonomy,” an
official explained. Of the six institutes named in phase 1, TEQIP was only
implemented in Ahmedabad’s L D College of Engineering, with marginal success.
“TEQIP has not been
implemented properly at L D . We are yet to get the required board of
governance. So, we cannot claim this status under the UGC. If implemented
appropriately, the resulting autonomy would benefit students at large. Some
private institutes are doing exceedingly well, and we need measures such as
TEQIP to compete with them,” said M N Patel, Principal, L D College of
Engineering. “There are very few autonomous colleges in state, in sharp
contrast to the situation in South Indian states like Karnataka. This was
bringing down our state,” Purani added. The Central government envisaged TEQIP
as a long-term move to transform the technical education system, to be
implemented over a period of 10–12 years, at a cost of Rs 1,550 crore, 80 per
cent of which would come from the World Bank.
