Edu-leaders

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, on January 7, launched web portals of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Board of Accreditation (NBA) at URL://www.aicte-india.org and URL://www.nba-india.org respectively. This initiative is part of the AICTE’s efforts to bring in transparency, accountability, efficiency and swiftness in its decision-making process. The portal will facilitate a citizen-friendly interactive mode with a responsive public grievance redressal mechanism. Some other significant initiatives taken by the AICTE, announced at the event are as follows:

- Processing of applications for approvals shall be made on line with effect from 10th January, 2010.

- Permission to new engineering and management institutions to admit upto maximum 300 from 240 and 120 from 60 students respectively.

- Reduction in land requirement in metro and mega cities to ehance facility of technical education.

- Permission to technical educational institutions to offer modular educational courses with the provision of credit transfer in extended teaching hours and also to offer programmes in second shift, so as to maximize utilization of their capacities.

- Opening of new camp offices at Gurgaon and Guwahati for the benefit of educational institutions in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and North Eastern Region respectively.

- Establishment of National Board of Accreditation (NBA), as an independent body of AICTE, for making it eligible for full membership of Washington Accord.

- Providing 25% flexibility to management institutions in allocation of seats among different disciplines of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) to address ever changing requirement of manpower.

- Only MBA and MCA courses, through distance mode, are to be considered for approval.

- Co-option of foreign experts on Academic Boards.

- Conducting of first Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) for Pharmacy Graduates on May 2, 2010, through MS University, Baroda.