| All India Council for Technical Education | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | AICTE |
| Formation | November, 1945 |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Location | Kolkata, Chennai, Kanpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Bhopal, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon[1] |
| Main organ | Council |
| Affiliations | Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development |
| Website | Official website |
| Remarks | Dr. S S Mantha, Chairperson (acting) |
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, under Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.[2] Established in November 1945 first as an advisory body and later on in 1987 given statutory status by an Act of Parliament, AICTE is responsible for proper planning and coordinated development of the technical education and management education system in India. The AICTE accredits postgraduate and graduate programs under specific categories at Indian institutions as per its charter.[3]
It is assisted by 10 Statutory Boards of Studies, namely, UG Studies in Eng. & Tech., PG and Research in Eng. and Tech., Management Studies, Vocational Education, Technical Education, Pharmaceutical Education, Architecture, Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Information Technology, Town and Country Planning. The AICTE has its headquarters in Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Indraprastha Estate, New Delhi, which has the offices of the chairman, vice-chairman and the member secretary, plus it has regional offices at Kolkata, Chennai, Kanpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Bhopal and Bangalore, Hyderabad and Gurgaon.[4]
In 2009, the Union Minister of Education formally communicated his intentions of closing down AICTE and related body, the University Grants Commission due to corruption and inefficiency charges against the bodies in favour of a larger regulatory body.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The AICTE will be superseded by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). The NBA, which currently operates under the wing of AICTE, will be converted into an independent body.[14]
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AICTE is vested with statutory authority for planning, formulation and maintenance of norms and standards, quality assurance through school accreditation, funding in priority areas, monitoring and evaluation, maintaining parity of certification and awards and ensuring coordinated and integrated development and management of technical education in the country as part of the AICTE Act No. 52 of 1987.
The AICTE Act, stated verbatim reads:
In order to improve upon the present technical education system, the current objectives is to modify the engineering curriculum as follows:
The AICTE comprises nine bureaus, namely:
For each bureau, adviser is the bureau head who is assisted by technical officers and other supporting staff. The multidiscipline technical officer and staff of the Council are on deputation or on contract from government departments, University Grants Commission, academic institutions, etc.
In 2004, there were 1,346 engineering colleges in India approved by AICTE with a seating capacity of 4,40,000. In 2008, there were 2388 engineering colleges, with a total student intake capacity of 8.2 lakh students and 1231 management institutes, with an annual intake capacity of 1.5 lakh students.
Other than engineering and MBA colleges, there were 1137 MCA, 1001 Pharmacy, 86 HMCT, 11 Applied arts and crafts, and 285 PGDM institutes approved by AICTE. By the end of December 2008, the number of applications pending to seek AICTE approval was 886 for engineering and technology, 250 for MBA, 834 for MCA, 120 for Pharmacy, 124 for HMCT, and 1 for Applied arts and crafts: a total of 2237. It is hoped that out of these 2237 applications, more than 70% will get approval by 2009.Every year the admission procedure of AICTE approved college get closed in the first week of October.
There are 69 private Universities as approved by AICTE.