Kapil Sibal, Indias HRD minister really has got the education authorities hopping around. First his plans of abolishing class ten board exams had all the state boards vigorously protesting and then his approval of the Yash Pal report had the UGC and AICTE up in arms. Its encouraging to hear suggestions, ideas and recommendations but at the end of the day, all of that is talk. It is truly great when some action results. Kapil Sibal has shown that he is not lacking in that department too. He has allowed the CBI to probe the assets of AICTE board members and also stripped the AICTE of the right to give approval to requests for increasing seat intake at institutes.
It is a widespread opinion that the AICTE process to grant approval to institutes is manipulated by those seeking approval. The CBI registered cases against AICTE honchos including Mr RA Yadav, AICTE Chairman and then arrested a regional officer, a member secretary of AICTE and a supposed middleman on charges of bribery. The CBI has also openly appealed to people to come forward with more information on the alleged corrupt practices followed by AICTE in granting approval to institutions. These measures will definitely have given a rude awakening to other parties involved in such activities and hopefully the new single regulatory body will be less polluted by such activities. I say less because we need to be realistic.
Another excellent act is to allow institutes to increase intake without having to request the AICTE to inspect the facilities. The archaic and suffocating regulations of the AICTE have restricted the expansion of management institutes. AICTE inspections will still be required but they can be held after the institute has started with its expansion plans. The inspection authorities can then order the institute to return to its earlier intake or continue operating. As an official rightly points out in a Telegraph article reporting this issue, Since the inspection is still mandatory, an institution can be ordered to return to its strength before expansion. This would mean a waste of the institutions resources spent on the expansion. So, only institutions confident of approval will expand.
These measures are hopefully an indication of what lies ahead for students at Indias educational institutes more freedom for colleges to introduce new courses, collaborate, make changes to infrastructure and be innovative. A single regulatory body along with most institutes operating as full-fledged universities offering a gamut of courses is the pot of gold. At least we are getting to see the first signs of a rainbow and the sun is shining.