Private colleges looking to shut down triple in a year

As many as 138 private institutes across the country, including 65 management and 15 engineering colleges, have sought permission to close from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

As many as 138 private institutes across the country, including 65 management and 15 engineering colleges, have sought permission to close from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This is more than three times the number of institutes that had come up with the request last year.

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“We have received applications for closure from 138 institutes. But the final closure can be done only after we get a no-objection certificate from the state governments and the universities concerned,” said SS Mantha, chairman, AICTE.

Of the 138 colleges that have sought permission in this regard, 53 are from Andhra Pradesh. As many as 3,800 engineering colleges and 4,000 management colleges in the country come under the AICTE.

Mantha said the council has received applications for opening 669 new institutes this year. “If we take this into consideration, I am sure there will be an overall increase in the number of institutes, even after closure of some that have applied.”

Stating that a majority of the institutes say they are not able to get students, he said, “Most of them are located in remote areas, possess poor infrastructure facilities, and have practically zero interaction with industries. The institutes will have to enhance interaction with the industry if they want to boost employment opportunities for students,” he said.

In a bid to bolster industry-institute interaction and increase employment, the AICTE will identify private institutes across the country on a nominative basis, where industries can set up their research arms, Mantha said. “To begin with, we will identify 100 institutes where industries can set up research centres from the next academic session. This can later develop into clusters,” he added.