The AICTE or All India Council for Technical Education is a statutory body in charge of planning and development of India's management education and technical education system. The council operates at a national level and functions under the Department of Higher Education.
AICTE was initially established as an advisory body in 1945 to survey the technical education facilities available and to promote the country's development. Subsequently, the National Policy of Education (1986) gave statutory status to AICTE in 1987.
The Role of AICTE
- The All India Council for Technical Education is responsible for monitoring the technical education facilities and promoting the country's development.
- The National Working Group was constituted by the Human Resources and Development Ministry(HRD) of the Government of India to monitor AICTE's role in expanding the number of technical institutions and upholding the required standard in the same. According to the Working Group, AICTE has the statutory authority necessary to make the functions more effective. The AICTE is vested with different roles and responsibilities to achieve the required objectives.
- The AICTE is the statutory body responsible for planning and maintaining the norms and standards.
- It also takes care of the process of assurance of quality through the accreditation of schools by evaluating the operations and services of institutions to ensure that they meet the required standards.
- The AICTE monitors and evaluates the functional areas and funds them as per the priority.
- It maintains the parity of awards and certification.
- It takes coordinated efforts to manage the country's technical education.
- It covers technical education programs that include research and training in several domains such as Engineering and Technology, Management, Architecture, Town planning, Applied Arts and Crafts, Catering Technology, Hotel Management, Pharmacy, etc.
Bureaus of AICTE
The AICTE's organizational structure includes multiple bureaus. The adviser serves as the head in each of these bureaus. The technical officers and supporting staff assist the Head of the Bureau. These officers and staff are from government departments, academic institutions, or the University Grants Commission in deputation or contract.
- The Approvals Bureau: When a new technical institution or a new integrated campus gets established, the approval bureau takes care of the approval processes.
- Policy Planning and Academic Planning: The AICTE's Research and Coordination cell coordinates and integrates planning and development in terms of technical education.
- The Administration Bureau: The bureau conducts training for the AICTE staff and nominates its representatives in various committees for effective administration.
- The Finance Bureau: This bureau manages the cash and bills of the organization and manages the withdrawal and disbursement of accounts.
Initiatives by AICTE
The AICTE has taken several measures and schemes to promote technical education and student and faculty development. Given below are a few of those:
AICTE – Student Learning Assessment Project
The project measures the level of academic and aptitude skills that students gain in technical programs. It also helps to understand and identify the factors that bother students' skill development.
Jal Shakti Abhiyan
The government launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan' plan, which aimed to speed up water conservation measures as a solution to the water crisis in water-stressed parts of the country. With AICTE's efforts, over 40000 engineering students have been mapped to the district administration to facilitate student participation in Jal Shakti Abhiyan. The AICTE also awarded the best-performing institutions to encourage their contributions.
One Student One Tree
The campaign “One Student One Tree” is to promote a green and healthy environment. To create social responsibility in students, all AICTE-approved technical institutions carried out a tree plantation drive, where each student planted a tree. AICTE also recognized the best-performing institutions.
AICTE- SWANATH Scholarship Scheme-
The SWANATH SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME,' approved by AICTE, is for children belonging to certain underprivileged categories to provide financial assistance of Rs. 50000 per year of study.
AICTE STTP-SFURTI
The STTP-SFURTI scheme aims to conduct student and faculty training through AICTE's financial assistance to help in technical education. It seeks to practice various techniques to help faculty members and students in the development of the nation's small-scale business.
Role of AICTE in Education
AICTE has been contributing significantly to education
- AICTE facilitates education as a human right (in line with the Right to Education Act)
- It holds community colleges, where several less fortunate students are given technical and support services.
- AICTE lays emphasis on training students to achieve holistic personality development.
- The AICTE lays emphasis on vocational education. Vocational training refers to the transaction of procedural knowledge. Vocational education can be introduced at the secondary level or the post-secondary level, and it prepares the students for jobs. Vocational education is generally provided by a technology institute or by a local community college post-secondary level.
- The AICTE also works towards offering distance education, providing good quality education in a remote manner.
- It aids the exploration of library services from all over the country.
- It provides key information on premier institutes in India such as the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management, National Institute of Technology, etc., which carry significant national importance.
- AICTE also highlights the best practices followed in the institutes that it has approved.
- IT provides the model syllabus for various Diploma and Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses.
- It encourages the use of information and technology in education.
Conclusion
The AICTE provides ample opportunities for students and faculty in institutions. There are various schemes that the AICTE has launched to bring in development for all the stakeholders. Various developmental schemes such as National Initiative for Technical Teachers Training (NITTTR), AICTE-Visvesvaraya Best Teachers Awards, National apprenticeship training scheme (NATS), AICTE-IDEA LAB, AICTE-Scheme For Promoting Interests, Creativity And Ethics Among Students (SPICES), and so on.
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