AICTE seeks clarification on approval for technical institutes to offer biannual admission

NEW DELHI: After the UGC approved biannual admissions, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has sought clarification from University Grants Commission (UGC) on whether it should issue ‘Letter of Approval’ to technical institutes to admit students twice annually. UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar announced yesterday that Indian universities can offer admission twice a year.

AICTE chairman TG Sitharam said that the ‘no clause in UGC rules’ bars universities from starting two academic sessions in a year. In this regard, the statutory body highlighted the need and possibility of giving approval to college for offering admission twice.

Sitharam pointed out that the National Education Policy (NEP) emphasizes a substantial increase in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education and making India a ‘global study destination’.

Highlighting these two objectives, AICTE said that all technical institutions should also be allowed to enrol students twice annually - February-March session and July-August session - similar to many western countries which have spring and fall admission systems. “This enables better utilization of infrastructure and will also promote employment opportunities to faculty,” it said.

Also read Biannual admissions ‘not mandatory’; will help increase student intake, offer new courses: UGC

"More importantly, admission processes for different courses continue till October/ November and they affect the entire admission landscape including that of technical courses. For example, this year Hon'ble Supreme Court has allowed Pharmacy council of India to give approvals till November, so admissions will only happen after November in some of the institutions,” it stated.

However, as per the AICTE guidelines, institutes are not allowed to offer admission after September 15. This has led to a large number of seats in technical institutions unfilled. Moreover, if a student who is pursuing a non-technical course seeks admission in technical courses, they will have to wait for a year to enrol.

He also said that foreign students do not opt for India as the academic sessions do not sync with their domestic timelines.

Stating that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has been instructed to conduct the CBSE board exam 2024 twice annually, the chairman hoped that “having two academic sessions will give students more flexibility and will allow them to explore more career options”.