Ripe for reform

There is good reason why AICTE figures so prominently in Kapil Sibals 100-day agenda

The CBI investigation into charges of corruption against top AICTE officials has now resulted in the suspension of its chairman,who was refusing to step down or proceed on leave despite the investigation against him.

But the biggest question about the All India Council for Technical Education is not to do with its personnel,it is simply: do we need the AICTE at all?

The AICTE Act 1987 mandates the council to properly plan and coordinate the development of technical education in India and qualitatively improve such education. But,working by a punitive mechanism,both the AICTE and the UGC have in effect turned their regulatory role into one of merely approving or rejecting institutes,fixing input costs like salaries and fees and physical infrastructure,as well as syllabi. The CBI investigation into the AICTE has exposed the regulators potential for perverting this mechanism for the benefit of individuals. For many,the AICTE had become synonymous with charges of red tapism. The regulators handling of the CFA controversy in 2007 was an eye-opener for many. Nor is AICTE accreditation any guarantee of a programmes quality. Several

institutes like the Indian School of Business,Hyderabad have made a comment by doing without AICTE accreditation.

The HRD ministry,with its blueprint for reforming higher education,should reconsider the AICTE. In fact,as per the Yash Pal committees recommendation,for which HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has committed himself to building a consensus,an apex constitutional body like the proposed national commission for higher education and research could make both the AICTE and UGC redundant. Along with it,the role of the regulator should also substantially change,with greater autonomy being given to universities and institutes in shaping their courses. It is also time to reconsider the distinction between degrees and diplomas in technical education. Curiously,that diploma-degree distinction seems to be the founding reason for the AICTE. Because eventually this is how the definition of technical education has been determined: anything leading to a diploma comes under the purview of the AICTE and anything leading to a degree comes under the purview of the UGC.