HRD considers introduction of 3 new professional courses

Government is considering the introduction of three professional courses to create more employment opportunities.

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Human Resource Development on Monday said that the government is considering the prospect of introducing three professional courses to create more employment opportunities. The information released in a written reply by Minister of State (HRD) Upendra Kushwaha mentioned the three courses under consideration are B.A. (Professional), B.Sc. (Professional) and B.Com. (Professional). 

To further enhance the employability of graduate courses, the government has created a Community College programme to engage school dropouts and other youths. The programme will be offered in educational institutions falling under All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC). 

The government said in a statement that this programme will help the secondary school dropouts to re-enter three-year courses based on appropriate credit system. Flexible in nature, the programme comprises 40% general and 60% Skill components. 

B.Voc. is another course where vocational education is imparted in 85 trades of different industry sectors in the country. The offered degree is recognized by UGC. Courses from Levels 1 to 6 in the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) are offered in B.Voc courses.

The government is also providing short-term, industry relevant skill training to the youth under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY-TI). AICTE affiliated institutions will be offering these opportunities.

Apart from this, there are 63 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Kaushal Kendras in the country that offer advanced skills of Levels 5 and above in the NSQF. These kendras work as Centers of Excellence in Skill Development in specialised areas. 

Source; http://zeenews.india.com/india/hrd-considers-introduction-of-3-new-professional-courses-2128849.html

AICTE to push for common engg. entrance exam

Some States have opposed the idea

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) would reach out to State governments to seek their support for conducting a common engineering entrance examination across the country, its chairman Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe said here on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 14th convocation of the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi, Mr. Sahasrabudhe said the AICTE had not dropped its proposal for a common entrance examination for engineering admissions. “Candidates vying for admission in select institutions are being forced to spend a lot of energy and money on writing examinations conducted by various technical institutions. Thousands of students are being forced to visit far-away States to take the entrance tests for getting admission in specific institutes and universities. Hence, the AICTE had floated the idea of conducting a common entrance test across the country for all engineering institutes, along the lines of the Joint Entrance Examination,” he said.

Mr. Sahasrabudhe said the AICTE had, so far, conducted two meetings with representatives of State governments. It had written to them on the importance of conducting a common entrance examination. However, some States had opposed the idea, the same way they opposed the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. Hence, the AICTE would renew its efforts to take the State governments on board. He insisted that the proposed examination would in no way affect the reservation policy of the States. Each State had a different reservation policy. The common entrance examination was nothing to do with the reservation system. It was aimed at improving the quality of technical education. The eligible candidates would automatically get admission in their respective States, he said.

‘No coercion’

Mr. Sahasrabudhe made it clear that he was against coercing States into extending their support to the proposal. Instead, the AICTE would make efforts to convince the States by pointing out the advantages of a common entrance examination.

Stating that the current examination system of technical institutes across the country was not according enough importance to testing the practical knowledge of the students, the AICTE chairman said the apex body had decided to bring reforms to engineering examinations.

It had uploaded model questions on its website to seek the opinions of students, teachers and employers.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/aicte-to-push-for-common-engg-entrance-exam/article24543422.ece

AICTE Recognizes NPTEL Courses As Faculty Development Programs

This will enable Engineering College teachers anywhere in country to take cutting-edge courses such as Block Chain Management, Deep Learning, IoT & Smart Cities.

CHENNAI: 

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved advanced National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) online certification courses for Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) for engineering college faculty under Career Advancement Scheme. A Memorandum of Agreement to this effect has been signed between NPTEL and AICTE. There are a total of 141 courses in the July-December 2018 period.

Highlighting the benefits of the initiative, Prof. Dileep N. Malkhede, Advisor-I (Research, Institute and Faculty Development), AICTE, said, "Due to limited opportunities available for faculty to attend face-to-face, residential fulltime training programs, faculty promotions under CAS are adversely affected. The one-stop solution to overcome all such problems is to register for the NPTEL-offered online courses."

Self-assessment is made possible through weekly assignments and the final in-person proctored examination provides for certifying the learning that has taken place.

Further, Prof. Dileep Malkhede added, "These courses are latest and can be attended at lower pace from anywhere and still at par with conventional FDPs. Joint certification by AICTE-NPTEL makes it authentic and recognizes it for promotions under CAS. Faculty members should take benefit of these courses."

A four-week week NPTEL course will be recognized as a half-week FDP, an eight-week NPTEL course as a one-week FDP and a 12-week course as 1.5-week FDP. This development eliminates the need for engineering college faculty to travel for FDPs, cutting down on time and cost. As the courses are online, they can be taken from anywhere across the country.

NPTEL offers a wide variety of courses and faculty can also do courses from other discipline. Courses on of cutting-\edge technology such as Block Chain Management, Deep Learning, IoT and Smart Cities would also be offered.

"We hope that this initiative will encourage more faculty members across the country to upgrade/refresh their knowledge more easily. This initiative where faculty completing NPTEL advanced courses being recognized by AICTE will be a great boost to the teaching community. We also hope that bodies such as University Grants Commission (UGC) will also approve the same for the teachers under colleges affiliated to them," Prof. Andrew Thangaraj, NPTEL coordinator at IIT Madras said.

Every semester the list of courses approved for FDP by AICTE would be published on NPTEL website and announced by AICTE as well as a notification to colleges. Faculty members of institutions can benefit from these FDPs.

Statistics from the past few semesters show that a large number of faculty have also actively participated in this process:

• Jan-Apr 2017:  5,300+ out of 44,000 candidates taking up examinations
• July-Nov 2017: 12,309 out of 70,000+ candidates writing examinations
• Jan-April 2018: 16,024 out of 87,000 candidates writing examinations

NPTEL was initiated by seven Indian Institutes of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati and Roorkee) along with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 2003. 
NPTEL is the largest provider of MOOCs in India today, especially the Engineering stream, with a credible proctored certification exam that clearly qualifies and differentiates the learners who do these courses.

The list of eligible courses is given at nptel.ac.in/fdp.html.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/education/aicte-recognizes-advanced-level-nptel-courses-as-faculty-development-programs-for-engineering-colleg-1892128

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‘NEET for engineering likely’ - AICTE vice-chairman

‘NEET for engineering likely’ 

AICTE vice-chairman says the entrance may happen in 2019

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) vice-chairman M.P. Poonia said there was a proposal to conduct NEET for engineering courses and the tests would be conducted from 2019.
He was at the 27th convocation held at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (SIST) in Semmenchery on Sunday.
Resistance from States
While the AICTE had floated the idea of a common entrance exam for engineering on the lines of the medical admissions in 2017 itself, there had been resistance from many States against the test.
In Tamil Nadu, the opposition parties are still against the NEET for medical admissions. In this context, the AICTE vice-chairman has indicated the possibility of a NEET for engineering courses in the next academic year itself. In his convocation address, Mr. Poonia emphasised that student upbringing was significant for societal development.
He urged the students to prove themselves to create an identity for them in future.
Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and S. Somanath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, received the honorary doctorate presented by Chancellor Remibai Jeppiaar.
Around 3,000 students received their degrees. Last academic year, 1,389 students from various disciplines in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses got placed.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/neet-for-engineering-likely/article24500442.ece

 

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