In a breather for technical institutes,the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to sanction part-time degree/diploma programmes if the institutes adhere to a slew of norms drawn up by the council. The aim is to facilitate technical and management education for working professionals who may have missed out on formal education or to help them enhance their qualification. Part-time refers to activities conducted in the evening (5.30 pm to 9.30 pm),six days a week,according to the council. In March this year,the AICTE had said that it would not approve new part-time MBA programmes nor allow fresh admissions till it drew up regulations to standardise such courses. The council had said in the absence of proper norms for part-time programmes,several B-schools were misusing the approval and facilities given to them and admitting students with no standard criteria and charging fees not approved by any authority. It also noted that many institutes were not working within the regulated framework,no faculty norms were in place and the quality of many part-time courses was poor and sub-standard. The regulations,drawn up by the AICTE for the 2012-13 approval process,say that the part-time undergraduate/postgraduate,diploma/post-diploma programmes will only be for working professionals or professionals with at least two years of work experience. Theres an increasing demand for technical/management skilled personnel. This will facilitate technical and management institutions to respond to the need of providing technical/management education to working personnel at the diploma and degree levels. This will help individuals who want to come back to mainstream education and also assist those who want to improve their qualification and competence. We have brought out specific regulations that the institutes will have to adhere to, AICTE acting chairman S S Mantha said. While the syllabus or course work will be the same as that used for a full-time programme and as prescribed by the affiliating university,the rules stipulate an industry-based live orientation at an appropriate level of at least 45 days for industry-skill enhancement. Candidates will also have to undertake a major project leading to a mini-dissertation. For management programmes,eligibility will be the same as that for regular programmes. For all other programmes,only a candidate with a diploma in the relevant programme will be eligible. These requirements are in addition to minimum two years of full-time work experience in the relevant field in which admission is sought. The AICTE has also drawn up regulations on faculty. For such programmes,50 per cent of the faculty can be taken from the general shift,while 20 per cent of the core staff will have to be appointed for each part-time course. Further,30 per cent faculty can be guest faculty from neighbouring industries/research and developmental organisations/government institutes, Mantha said. For part-time programmes,no institute will be eligible for more than 50 per cent of the total intake in first/general shift. No part-time programme will be sanctioned for those already running a second shift at their institutes. Further,approval will be subject to the same course being run in the first/general shift.
