AICTE Chief: 600 Colleges To Offer UG-PG Semiconductor Tech Courses; Check Details Here

New Delhi: According to T.G. Sitharam, chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), over 600 engineering and technical institutes nationwide would soon begin providing "world-class" courses on semiconductor technology. The AICTE is a top-level advising organisation at the national level with the mandate to examine the facilities for technical education and to advance coordinated, integrated growth in the nation. It reports to the Union Education Ministry and is in charge of accrediting all graduate and postgraduate technology-related programmes.

The AICTE chief said during an exclusive interview with IANS that the ban on the opening of new engineering colleges in the nation until 2024 has been lifted. Here are few instances of the discourse: IANS: What additional programmes will the AICTE offer to fulfil the requirements of the international standard? Sitharam: On the bleeding edge of technology, like semiconductors, we are developing new courses of the future.

There will soon be more than 16,000 seats available for undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma-level courses in semiconductor technology because we are working on it. There are over 600 technical colleges that will offer semiconductors courses.

IANS: What has changed since AICTE restricted the opening of new engineering colleges in India until 2024?

Sitharam: Yes, there was a moratorium on the opening of new engineering colleges throughout India till 2024, but after reconsidering our choice, we have since lifted the embargo. By adhering to the guidelines established by the AICTE, new engineering institutions can be found anywhere in the nation. After the AICTE overturned the ban, even permissions for the opening of 250 new engineering colleges and technical institutes were recently issued.

IANS: Numerous higher education institutions (HEIs) had student dropout rates in the thousands, and some HEIs even reported suicide instances. Have you made any efforts to resolve these issues involving the students?

Sitharam: We're developing a programme called "Mentor-Mentee." Every institution participating in this scheme will have a mentor for its students in order to encourage engagement outside of the classroom. These mentors will talk with students about their personal, familial, professional, and personal well-being in order to deal with their problems and stress. On this, we have a policy ready, and the next council meeting will ratify it.

IANS: How is the AICTE streamlining the procedure for approving new technical institutions?

Sitharam: The approval procedure for institutions has been streamlined. We have begun performing online inspections of technical institutes as part of this endeavour. This approval process has been completed by over 9,000 institutions, and all of the qualified institutions are receiving hassle-free approvals.

IANS: How far along are the courses in basic engineering? There are claims that there are still open seats in various engineering institutes.

Sitharam: The fundamental engineering courses are attracting students' interest. According to our research, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a 10% increase in the number of students applying for admission to core engineering courses.

IANS: Is there a programme to adapt core engineering students to cutting-edge technology like robotics and artificial intelligence?

Sitharam: Students majoring in core engineering are permitted to take minor degree courses in emerging fields such as nanotechnology, semiconductors, robots, data science, cyber security, blockchain, logistics, and artificial intelligence.This will empower our kids to create their own jobs in addition to preparing them for the workforce.

IANS: Are there enough qualified core engineering lecturers in colleges? Sitharam: At the foundational engineering colleges, the lack of qualified instructors is a major problem. Through short-term certification programmes, the AICTE took the initiative to train teachers.

IANS: What actions are you taking to encourage innovation and boost the number of new patent applications?

Sitharam: To encourage ideation, innovation, etc., we have decided to close our regional facilities and transform them into 12 "Indovation" centres (India's Innovation). These centres will be the first of their sort in India. Their mission is to support ideation, innovation, and technology transfer. We also support the filing of patents. Our efforts have resulted in a reduction in the patent filing fee from Rs 28,000 to Rs 1,500.

With the help of AICTE, we have more than 8,000 patents. We are currently developing a free patent filing policy. We also have a 'YUKTI' repository, which is used to collect technologies, transfer technologies, prevent duplication, and other related tasks.

Around the nation, universities and colleges have created as many as 7,500 innovation councils. We aim to have an innovation cell in every institution and college within the next two to three years.

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