CHENNAI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) came under fire on Thursday, with the Madras high court ticking off the central regulatory body for treating all good and bad educational institutions alike, resulting in the harassment of those achieving excellence.
Justice K K Sasidharan, passing orders on a writ petition filed by Shanmuga Polytechnic College, an associate of Thanjavur-based Sastra University, said: "There is no dispute that there are ill-equipped institutions
offering various courses in engineering. Those institutions are still surviving with the help of authorities. All institutions should not be painted with the very same brush. An apex body like the AICTE must be in a position to identify premier institutions and encourage them to give good technical education for an affordable fee. Similarly, efforts should be made to close down makeshift engineering institutions which are a source of threat in the field of education."
The college filed the writ petition after the AICTE refused to extend approval for an electronics engineering course. The AICTE said there were three 'major deficiencies' - fees, reservation and admission police are not uploaded in the institute's website; the institute's land was not contiguous; and salaries are not paid as per AICTE norms.
The institute, however, said no parent or student or state authority had raised their fingers against the institute with respect to information on its website. As for the objections about the nature of the land, it said it was a new reason invented by the AICTE against the 29 year old institution due to extraneous reasons. It also said the salary issue was pending before the Supreme Court.
Justice Sasidharan, concurring with the submission that denial of permission was due to critical articles written by the administrators of the polytechnic, said: "The failure on the part of the AICTE to identify well-equipped institutions and its treatment of all institutions, both good and average, alike notwithstanding the excellent performance made by a relatively good institution run by a charitable society and part of Sastra University, to approach the court time and again."
Holding that it was a fit case for a positive order to grant extension, Justice Sasidharan directed the AICTE to extend approval for the year 2013-14 before November 20.
Justice K K Sasidharan, passing orders on a writ petition filed by Shanmuga Polytechnic College, an associate of Thanjavur-based Sastra University, said: "There is no dispute that there are ill-equipped institutions
offering various courses in engineering. Those institutions are still surviving with the help of authorities. All institutions should not be painted with the very same brush. An apex body like the AICTE must be in a position to identify premier institutions and encourage them to give good technical education for an affordable fee. Similarly, efforts should be made to close down makeshift engineering institutions which are a source of threat in the field of education."
The college filed the writ petition after the AICTE refused to extend approval for an electronics engineering course. The AICTE said there were three 'major deficiencies' - fees, reservation and admission police are not uploaded in the institute's website; the institute's land was not contiguous; and salaries are not paid as per AICTE norms.
The institute, however, said no parent or student or state authority had raised their fingers against the institute with respect to information on its website. As for the objections about the nature of the land, it said it was a new reason invented by the AICTE against the 29 year old institution due to extraneous reasons. It also said the salary issue was pending before the Supreme Court.
Justice Sasidharan, concurring with the submission that denial of permission was due to critical articles written by the administrators of the polytechnic, said: "The failure on the part of the AICTE to identify well-equipped institutions and its treatment of all institutions, both good and average, alike notwithstanding the excellent performance made by a relatively good institution run by a charitable society and part of Sastra University, to approach the court time and again."
Holding that it was a fit case for a positive order to grant extension, Justice Sasidharan directed the AICTE to extend approval for the year 2013-14 before November 20.
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