Technical Education Department lay out plan to secure autonomous status for polytechnic colleges

In addition to showing 50 per cent of regular faculty, the colleges should have 60 per cent of the faculty with more than five years of experience.

Hyderabad: Government polytechnic colleges in Telangana will soon embrace a new era marked with autonomy as the Technical Education Department chalks out a plan to secure autonomous status for its colleges.

The move comes in the wake of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) notifying norms with respect to the grant of autonomy to the polytechnic colleges.

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There are a total of 56 government and 70 private polytechnics in the State. In line with the norms and policies of the apex technical body, the department is preparing a proposal to receive a grant of autonomy.

As per the norms, the institute should have a minimum of 10 years of existence besides possessing NBA accreditation for a minimum of 30 per cent of eligible programmes.

In addition to showing 50 per cent of regular faculty, the colleges should have 60 per cent of the faculty with more than five years of experience.

The polytechnics should also have secured 60 per cent and above results in all semesters in the last three academic years besides enrollment of a minimum of 80 per cent in the previous three academic years.

The autonomous status comes with an array of benefits, including the formulation of new courses, reviewing existing courses and redesigning programmes. Such polytechnics can also evolve methods of assessments besides conducting their own examination and announcing results.

However, the colleges must obtain an equivalence of their programmes from the State Board of Technical Education and Training or the AICTE. The polytechnics receiving autonomous status will be eligible for a grant of extended Extension of Approval up to the period of expiry of autonomy status from the AICTE.

However, these institutions will not have autonomy over the admissions, which will be carried out only by the competent authority. “Earlier, the polytechnic colleges were given autonomy status under the World Bank Schemes.

As the schemes ended, so did the autonomy of the colleges. Now, we are working on receiving autonomous status for the government polytechnics,” said an official of the Technical Education Department.