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AICTE should move from being regulator to facilitator: SS Mantha
Outgoing chairman of the education body advocates govt funding for quality private technical schools and streamlining of various education laws
Five years ago, when S.S. Mantha became chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex technical education regulator was notorious for corruption and opacity. Mantha improved its reputation and made it accountable by introducing e-governance. Mantha, who relinquished office on 2 January, said in an interview on his last day that AICTE must move from being a regulator to a facilitator. He advocated government funding for quality private technical schools and urged streamlining of various education laws to avoid turf battles between regulators.
Edited excerpts:
How would you sum up your stint as chairman?
Last few years that I have been here were full of challenges, but I always thought challenge would provide an opportunity. A lot of practices were not desirable at the time when I came in. After I joined, we implemented e-governance and because of that, today an applicant sits at home, makes his application and prints his approval to open a college from home without coming to AICTE office.
The transformation has been remarkable—from a paper-based approach to a completely automation-driven implementation process. It increased transparency, accountability and has restored the credibility of the organization. This is a key takeaway for me.
Besides, we managed to improve the quality of teachers though still we have to go a long way, and moved towards vocationalization of higher education.
How tough was it to work with the government?
As administrators, we follow the policies of the government. To that extent, we work as professionals. I would not say it’s difficult to work in a government set-up as long as you understand that there is no local agenda.
The government has set up a committee to review AICTE and may restructure it. What are the key areas where AICTE needs to change for good?
I want to see AICTE moving from being just a regulator to a complete facilitator and enabler. We have put several policies in place which will take AICTE to be a facilitator and I would like that to be taken forward.
I would like a much more enabling regulatory framework, which is funded properly. So that it can reach out to its institutions to improve quality. Quality comes at a price... Today, several hundred government colleges (in technical space) are starved for funds, they are extremely good, but need funds. For some 300 government degree colleges and 1,000 polytechnics, I would like to see an exclusive package so that these institutes can improve their facilities and provide quality as good as any IIT (Indian Institute of Technology). They have the potential.
Third, I would like to see AICTE powers restored as per its Act. It did face tough times in the last 18 months.
More than 90% of the technical schools are in the private sector and many of them are doing well. But they cannot perform better because of several problems in the state mechanism and regulatory process.
I would suggest that identify the best (private) schools and make them eligible for funding. It should happen.
The last one is—productization needs to happen through technical institutions. It means research and development (R&D) labs of industries should be linked with a cluster of institutions in particular areas. So that these schools can work and provide R&D inputs and help the cause of “Make in India” mission.
You talked about restoring the powers of AICTE fully. But the fact remains that you had a tough time negotiating with the legal system and then with the University Grants Commission over your jurisdiction. Your view.
It was very tough.
But now, instead of talking about the turf war, there should be a talk about rationalization of Acts. There are overlapping provisions in most of these Acts and these must go. It means you must clearly demarcate the line for each education regulator. Once that happens, this turf war will vanish. And (government must) give enough autonomy to each of these institutions to implement the policies of the government.
Another criticism of AICTE is it never stopped mushrooming of tech schools...
First, there is need for a perspective plan from the state government. It should very clearly map the requirement vs availability of institutions. Very few states have done that... Secondly, Indian Constitution allows people to practise their profession of choice. If you want to set up a college and (are) ready to follow rules, how can I stop? If I stop by regulation, they will go to court and if court asks me what’s the data you have to take this decision, then I will not have any answer. How will you pre-suppose that a new college will not provide quality?
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First Published:12 Jan 2015, 11:55 PM IST
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