AICTE relaxes teacher-student norm for autonomous, deemed colleges

The AICTE has also invited applications from education partners for setting up new technical institutions. The last date to apply without fee was April 6 and with a late fee, it is April 13.  

The All India Council for Technical Education, which had in 2021-22 asked the deemed universities, autonomous colleges and accredited institutions to maintain a faculty-student ratio of 1:15 within two years, has now removed the condition from its approval process handbook for 2023-24. As per the previous guidelines, only affiliated engineering colleges could have a 1:20 ratio of faculty to students, Times of India reported. 

The institutions say the AICTE's portal for giving approval has been showing a requirement in a 1:20 ratio for even autonomous colleges and deemed universities. 

A department with an allowed intake of 60 students for a UG programme can have a minimum of 12 faculty members if the ratio is 1:15. The same department can be run with only nine faculty members if the ratio is 1:20. Academicians say the relaxation would hurt the research output as fewer faculty members would be burdened with more academic work. "Autonomous colleges need more faculty to do research. There is no reason to relax the faculty-student norm. In my opinion, it is a wrong move. It defeats the purpose of bringing in a 1:15 ratio," said E Balagurusamy, former vice-chancellor of Anna University. 

In its approval handbook for 2023-24, the AICTE also relaxed faculty requirement for colleges with poor enrolment. The AICTE has also invited applications from education partners for setting up new technical institutions, extension of approval for existing technical institutions and obtaining extension of approval for running programmes. Those interested can apply online through the national single window system (NSWS) -- nsws.gov.in. The last date to apply without fee was April 6 and with a late fee, it is April 13.  

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