Principals urge AICTE to withdraw notification on BBA, BCA courses

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru City University principals' association has raised objections to the recent decision of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to bring BBA and BCA courses under its ambit.

In a request submitted to the vice-president of the Karnataka State Higher Education Council, they urged AICTE to withdraw the recent notification on BBA and BCA courses, where it was decided to bring BBA and BCA courses under its ambit and make it mandatory for all arts and science colleges offering these courses to get the council's approval. It was also decided to introduce BBA and BCA in all engineering colleges.

AICTE has asked the colleges offering BBA and BCA courses to get its approval from the 2024-25 academic year. The principals said that BBA and BCA are general courses, which make it accessible to many students as it is cost effective compared with AICTE-affiliated colleges.

"AICTE norms necessitate engineering students to have more of technical skills, while students from a commerce background opting for BBA will have an interest in non-technical skills. Such students are denied the opportunity of opting for BBA," reads their request.

The association urged the AICTE to withdraw the move.

"As arts and science colleges are offering these course for nominal fees and are surviving due to the enrollment in BBA, BCA and from commerce courses, the AICTE's move to take over BBA and BCA from the University Grants Commission and state universities will have an adverse impact in the multi and interdisciplinary approach, as mentioned in the education policy, and also results in a significant fall in the admission to arts, science and management colleges, potentially causing job loss for many," it read.