AICTE pours cold water on hopes of engg colleges

​Hyderabad: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has poured cold water on the plans by many engineering institutions in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to enter into collaboration with foreign universities to offer twinning programme.

Department of a University or institution should secure necessary approvals from the Council and accreditation from the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) for collaboration. It is only such institutions which will be allowed to offer "technical education leading to the award of Diploma/ Post Diploma Certificate/ Under Graduate Degree/ Post Graduate Diploma/ Post Graduate Degree of a Foreign University/ Institution through Collaborative/ Twinning arrangements," it said. Also, it will be based on a "Zero Deficiency” self-disclosure submitted to the council.

In regard to the foreign universities, the AICTE said the universities entering into arrangements with the Indian universities or institutions should have accreditation by the authorised universities in their parent country.

Another stipulation notified by the council is that the courses offered through the twinning programmes should be only regular and first shift courses and they should have the same nomenclatures as it exists in their parent country. Also, there shall not be any distinction in the academic curriculum, mode of delivery, the pattern of examination, etc. and

The certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees awarded by the foreign university should be fully recognised in their parent country. The new process laid down makes the institutions interested in introducing collaboration and twinning programmes will have to mandatorily apply on AICTE web portal along with uploading documents prescribed by the Council.

Once the approval is given then the Indian institution and the foreign university should enter into a bipartite agreement or MoU for the purpose. That apart, the "Indian Institution and the concerned affiliating University/ Board shall also enter into a bipartite agreement/ MoU for this purpose," it said.

Students admitted under the twinning programme should spend at least one semester for the two years programme and two semesters for four years of the course in the foreign university or Institution in its parent country. In case, the students have failed to secure visa, they should be enrolled in a similar programme being conducted by the Indian Partner Institution (IPI), affiliated with a university. The intake of such students shall be over and above the “Approved Intake” of the programme being conducted by the IPI, it said.

The new process is announced to safeguard the student’s interest, uniform maintenance of educational standards, to prevent non-accredited foreign universities offering courses in the country, to secure country’s interest and to take punitive action against the erring institutions, it clarified.