Managements of private engineering colleges in the State on Friday reiterated their demand for the implementation of recommendations of the national fee committee constituted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and headed by Justice Srikrishna.
Speaking to The Hindu, Choppa Gangi Reddy, president of Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges Managements’ Association, pointed out that the panel had recommended a minimum fee of ₹79,600 a year and a maximum of ₹1,89,800 for undergraduate engineering degrees. For MBA courses, the minimum fee recommended was ₹85,000 a year and the maximum was ₹1,95,200. For MCA, the minimum was ₹88,500 a year and the maximum was ₹1,94,100, he said.
The association members are opposed to the fee structure being finalised for professional courses by Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Regulatory and Monetary Commission (APHERMC). The commission is yet to announce the fee structure fixed for the current academic block, but reports indicate that it has recommended a minimum fee of ₹45,000 and a maximum of ₹1 lakh for engineering courses. “Most colleges fall under the ‘₹45,000’ category. This is not feasible,” asserted Mr. Gangi Reddy.
He said there are other issues that need immediate attention. Speaking about the introduction of courses in emerging fields, he said the AICTE handbook permits engineering colleges to start new courses, “but we are asked to seek permission from the university and the State government.“
He demanded that the frequency of seeking approval from the AICTE be reduced from every year to once every five years. He also sought the restoration of college-wise processing fee for renewal of engineering courses, instead of division-wise fee collection.
“Our institutions are striving to impart quality education and meet the prescribed standards to achieve recognition by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). But sometimes owing to issues of faculty-student ratio in some courses, cadre ratio, retention of senior faculty members and a lack of research skills in the faculty, some of the colleges are unable to meet the standards,” admits association general secretary M. Sridhar, requesting a reduction in the percentage of accreditation of eligible courses from 60% to 50% or 40% and more time for colleges to seek accreditation.
The AICTE collects a caution deposit of ₹35 lakh from the institution to start UG courses under engineering and technology and ₹15 lakh each for Master of Business Administration and Master of Computer Application. The funds are deposited in the AICTE account and the interest accrued on the deposits is not refunded to the institutions along with the refund of caution deposit after the completion of the stipulated time, they pointed out.
Referring to the AICTE directive to the institutions not to retain certificates of faculty members and students while joining the colleges, the association leaders said this was causing heavy inconvenience to the managements. “We collect the certificates of faculty members, asking them to give a three months’ notice to us, as it will enable us to recruit a replacement for them during this gap. Many of them leave the institution in the middle of the semester, leaving the management and the students high and dry. Similarly, many students dropped out of the courses abruptly...,” said Mr. Gangi Reddy, insisting that the college be allowed to retain the certificates.
