In a significant move to bridge the industry-academia skill gap, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has relaxed a key regulation that was limiting the ability of engineering colleges to offer specialized courses for working professionals. The decision is expected to empower a wider network of institutions to contribute directly to upskilling India's workforce.
Key Relaxation in Enrolment Norms
The council has done away with the stringent rule that mandated engineering colleges to have a minimum of 80% student enrolment over the past three years to be eligible to apply for conducting exclusive courses meant for industry professionals. According to the revised guidelines, colleges that have no deficiencies and maintain the prescribed student-faculty ratio can now start offering such upskilling programmes.
Academic institutions have welcomed this change, stating it will enable them to better serve the upskilling needs of professionals in their local and neighbouring areas. Presently, such programmes are primarily offered by reputable institutions like Anna University campuses and autonomous colleges in collaboration with the industry.
Boost for New Courses and Intake Capacity
Beyond the enrolment rule, AICTE has also amended the approval process to facilitate the expansion of course offerings. Institutions possessing NBA (National Board of Accreditation) accreditation are now permitted to increase their student intake or start new courses equivalent to the number of courses accredited by the board. Notably, even institutions without NBA accreditation have been given the flexibility to increase or start additional courses.
College principals believe this amendment will particularly help in augmenting intake in computer-related courses, which are in high demand but suffer from a significant faculty shortage. To address this core issue, former Anna University vice-chancellor E Balagurusamy suggested that colleges offer high pay packages to attract talent. He noted that many IT professionals are eager to switch to academic careers due to a lack of job security in the corporate sector, and attractive salaries coupled with good infrastructure could draw them to teaching roles.
This potential solution is critical, given that currently, more than 50% of students enrolling in engineering streams opt for computer-related programmes.
Pilot for Experiential Learning Programmes
Alongside the regulatory easing, AICTE has released a proposal for the pilot implementation of experiential learning programmes. AICTE-approved institutions can now collaborate with industry partners who have an annual turnover of 100 crore rupees or more to roll out these programmes.
The curriculum for such initiatives will be jointly framed by academic and industry experts, with a mandate that a minimum of 50% of the content involve experiential or work-based learning at industry sites. The proposal also clarifies that working professionals can utilise this framework to upskill themselves, creating a direct pipeline for practical, industry-relevant education.
These combined steps by the AICTE signal a proactive shift towards making technical education more flexible, industry-aligned, and capable of addressing the dynamic upskilling needs of India's professional landscape.
