A decision of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to not allow new conventional disciplines with low employment potential from the academic year 2020-21 had evoked mixed response. While officials of the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) of Chhattisgarh Government were of the view that the decision would clean the ‘garbage’ of private engineering colleges, Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekananda Technical University (CSVTU), Bhilai, said the colleges are independent to choose their disciplines. CSVTU Vice-Chancellor Dr M K Verma made it clear that the colleges are in a better position to judge as to which disciplines should be taught to their students.
“The private engineering colleges work on ground level and conduct independent survey to know the market trends before introducing any branches in their respective colleges. CSVTU grants No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the disciplines the colleges apply for. However, the NOC is given on the basis of laboratory and faculty arrangements,” said Dr Verma. Dr Verma further said that the technical university AICTE was yet to issue circulars of its decision.
Dr Verma, however, said that the engineering colleges would have to follow the instructions of AICTE provided the decision is made mandatory for the colleges. On the other hand, a DTE official, who did not want to be named, said that the decision of AICTE, if comes into effect, would help in closing the disciplines failing to attract students in the private engineering colleges. The official said that it is very early to say anything unless the department receives any official letter from the AICTE.
The official said that still nearly 10,000 employment potential disciplines evokes mixed reponse engineering seats of private colleges lying vacant even after the completion the third phase PET counselling. Only spot admission remains to go, he said. It is to be mentioned, the AICTE said to have decided to permit only emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence and Block Chain, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, and 3D Printing and Design. In a bid to bridge the gap between industry requirements and courses imparted at engineering institutes, the AICTE has initiated several steps, including this one.
