AICTE wants closed private institutes to restart operations

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) wants owners of closed private technical institutes to restart their operations by forming smaller groups.

The higher education regulator is preparing an action plan to bring such institutions on board so that infrastructure, including classrooms, laboratories and other facilities, created by them can be utilised in offering students “popular courses” in engineering and technology.

Skill development factor

The Centre’s renewed push for skill development to make the country’s youth employable and promote entrepreneurship is one of the major factors behind the AICTE’s move as availability of infrastructure for offering such courses is the key to the speedy implementation of the skill development ministry’s plans.

“We are discussing the idea to see as to how such institutions can be brought on board. Many private technical institutes have been closed down because they failed to attract an adequate number of students required to run the institutes. But, they still have buildings and other infrastructure, which can be utilised if the owners come together and restart operations by forming smaller groups,” AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe told DH.

He, however, clarified that the AICTE will not be a partner in such collaborations among the owners of the closed institutes.

“They have to take a decision among themselves as to whether they should come together or not. We will only encourage them to forge such collaborations and bring in some provisions in our regulations to allow such collaborations,” he added.

“If the owners of the closed institutes come together, they can start offering skill development programmes along with other technical courses that are in demand,” the AICTE chairman said.