Doors open to AICTE scholarships, internships, funds for BBA, BMS, BCA students, teachers

NEW DELHI: The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has issued guidelines for all existing non-technical institutes offering Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelors of Computer Applications (BCA) and Bachelors of Management Studies (BMS) programmes and new institutes that intend to start them.

The BBA, BMS and BCA courses have come within the purview of AICTE, the top technical education regulation, from this year. In consequence, the guidelines are a work-in-progress. “AICTE approval for the first time shall be granted on ‘as is where is basis’” to existing programmes and colleges, says the document, adding that “after thorough process of consultation separate quality norms will be evolved for BCA, BBA, BMS courses”.

For the first round of approval of all the existing institutes already offering BBA, BCA, BMS courses, no major changes are required in infrastructure or exam systems. Further, faculty and students can avail several benefits and financial support.

Also read AICTE sets new rules for BTech, MBA, other courses for working professionals

AICTE scholarships, funds for students, faculty

The AICTE guidelines state that faculty of the institutes seeking approval shall receive several benefits, including agreements signed by the council, access to council-organised faculty development programmes, research promotion schemes, funding for organising conferences, higher education schemes and others.

Students of these institutes will now be able to avail scholarships like SAKSHAM ( scholarship for specially-abled children), PRAGATHI (scholarship for girls) and many others.

They can also avail National Education Alliance for Technology (NEAT), a new-age technology focussed partnership to access technological solutions for education pedagogy, internships, benefits of placements, and also participate in national and international level competitions.

As earlier reported by Careers360, AICTE is also in the process of designing new model curricula for the three courses to include elements like internship and the latest technology.

AICTE guidelines for institutes

Until new norms are set for BBA, BCA and BMS courses, the apex regulatory body will provide approval on “as is where is basis”. Both existing and new institutes will have to submit their applications on the AICTE portal via the National Single Window System (NSWS) as a new institute to get approval for all existing or new programmes, including postgraduate courses like MBA, MCA and others.

Institutes do not need to have exclusive or separate buildings, director or principal, academic arrangements, examination systems or university affiliation to offer the courses this year. Once they receive the AICTE approval, they can apply for other engineering, planning or arts courses regulated by the council.

The institute needs to make a payment of Rs 6,000 after registration and a unique user id will then be provided. However, the existing institutes already offering BBA, BCA and BMS courses will not be charged the Technical Education Regulatory (TER) fees. TER is the total expenditure or costs borne by an institute to run a course.

Self-financing and private institutes will be charged Rs 20,000 for every batch of 60 seats and government, government-aided and minority institutes will be charged Rs 5,000 for the same. Only those institutes that are established for less than five years need to pay the security deposit.