Education Should Be The Manifestation Of Excellence

Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, in conversation with Rajaram Sukumar, looks at the possibility of multiple-session exams instead of make or break single-session exams, continuous evaluation system, need for avoiding multiplicity of regulators in the same domain, among other challenges in engineering education…

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Q. A major problem regarding the number of engineering seats in the country is that AICTE publishes one figure while other reports cite a different one…

A. These things will never tally. The reason is that there is no single authority which takes care of all of them. AICTE has 100% accurate data based on AICTE approved institutes; that is colleges affiliated to different universities, and deemed to be universities. Data from CFTIs, IITs, NITs, Central universities, state public and private universities is not available with AICTE. The only near complete data that you can get is from All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) since all institutes are asked to share the data on this platform. This data is about one-and-a-half-years old since it takes about a year to process and publish it. Moreover, since it is not related with approvals, not all institutes give the data in its complete form. But that is still likely to be the most accurate data. Given the multiple agencies and different types of institutes that we have, we require one central body or portal to collect the student data.

Q. Are you hinting at an overarching body like the Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA)?

A. Yes, something like that, if not for regulating and avoiding multiplicity of regulators in the same domain like AICTE, PCI, CoA or UGC with overlapping functions, but at least for getting a holistic picture about the country’s higher education system. This may not be so easy to come by. But at least a combined single portal where everyone mandatorily gives the data is absolutely necessary.

Q. You said at an XLRI function last year that education should be the manifestation of excellence and that academic curriculum alone is not enough. Could you elaborate on that?