Lok Sabha Question No. 416 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-18
Subject: Quality of Private Engineering Colleges
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 416 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2017

## Quality of Private Engineering Colleges

## 416. SHRI PRABHAKAR REDDY KOTHA:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is contemplating on improving the educational standards in Private Engineering Colleges so as to increase employability and skills of the students;
- (b)   if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  All  India  Council  of  Technical  Education  (AICTE)  and  the  Government  are working in collaboration in this direction; and
- (d) whether the Government is preparing to close down large number of existing private engineering  colleges  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof,  Statewise  and college-wise?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

(DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

- (a) to (c): With a view to improving the quality of technical education so as to increase employability of the students, the following action plan has been approved by the AICTE:
1. Planning: Long-term Perspective Plans will be prepared for technical education at State level, so that quality issues being faced may be addressed in a focused and planned way in consultation with the concerned State Governments.  This will be a guiding document while approving new institutions by AICTE.
2. Selection:    The  students for  the  technical  courses  shall  be  selected  based  on  a standardized examination.
3. Induction training: Every student, on admission, shall be put through a mandatory Induction training to reinforce the fundamental concepts and the required language skills required for the technical education. The model curriculum and the periodicity of this induction training will be separately notified by the AICTE.
4. Revision  of  curriculum:    Every  affiliating  Technical  University  shall  constitute subject-wise industry consultation committee (ICC) with the mandate of examining the  existing  curriculum  and  for  making  suitable  changes  in  the  curriculum  every year. This process shall be completed in the month of December each year for the courses  to  be  offered  in  the  coming  Academic  year.  Each  institution,  while applying  for  approval,  shall  certify  completion  of  this  process,  which  will  be mandatory.
5. Mandatory  internships:  Every  student  in technical institution shall do  three internships  each  spanning  4  to  8  weeks  before  completion  of  the  undergraduation. The responsibility will be on the institution for helping the students in finding suitable industry or organisation for the internship.
6. Industry readiness: All students passing out of the undergraduate courses shall be imparted technical and soft skills required for working in the industry encompassing -managerial skills, entrepreneurial skills, leadership skills, communication skills, team-working skills and technical skills.
7. Promoting innovation/start-ups: There shall be efforts at every level for promoting innovation  and  creativity  in  the  students.  The  innovation  drives  like  Hackathon shall be promoted, so that innovative ideas would emerge that can be incubated in the start-up centres.
8. Exam reforms: The final exams being conducted by the institutions shall test the understanding of the concepts and the skill - rather than the subject knowledge. A model exam format would be prepared and shared with the institutions and the technical universities for suitable adoption. This aspect would be reviewed at the time of approval.
9. Training of teachers: Every teacher in each of the technical education disciplines shall mandatorily undergo an annual refresher course delivered through SWAYAM portal,  encapsulating  all  the  major  advances  in  the  field  of  their  study.  Online courses would also be prepared and delivered through the SWAYAM platform for improving  the  pedagogical  techniques  of  the  teachers.  The  participation  in  the courses by at least 50% of the faculty would be a mandatory condition for approval of the institution. Similarly, there should be leadership training to the heads of the institutions  once  in  2  years.  These  trainings  would  also  be  hosted  through  the SWAYAM platform.
10. Mandatory  accreditation:  At  least  half  of  all  the  programmes  in  the  technical institutions  shall  be  accredited  through  the  NBA  before  2022.  Unless  there  is credible  progress  each  year,  the  approval  of  the  institutions  can  be  refused.  In order to assist the institutions in meeting the mandatory requirements for applying for accreditation, a separate mechanism will be put in place.

Further,  AICTE  is  implementing  schemes  namely  National  Employment  Enhancement Mission (NEEM) and Employability Enhancement Training Program (EETP) to enhance the employability of the students. In addition, AICTE has also partnered with  Ministry of Micro,  Small  and  Medium  Enterprises  (MSME),  Govt  of  India,  Internshala,  NETiit  and LinkedIn to provide internship opportunities and industry exposure to students for aligning their technical knowhow with industry requirements.

(d): No,  Madam.  There  is  no  provision  in  AICTE  Act,  1987  for  closing  down  of engineering colleges by the Government. However, the colleges willing to close down can apply on the online portal of AICTE.

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