179 professional colleges shut in 2020; highest in 9 years: Reveals AICTE

Besides the closure of 179 institutes, at least 134 institutes have not sought approval this year owing to a large number of seats still lying vacant over the last 5 years thus making it unviable for institutions to continue.

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) data has revealed that around 180 professional colleges, including engineering institutes and business schools, were shut down during the academic year 2020-21. The number of technical institutions closed during this academic year has been recorded as the highest in the past nine years. Besides the closure of 179 institutes, at least 134 institutes have not sought approval this year owing to a large number of seats still lying vacant over the last 5 years thus making it unviable for institutions to continue. At least 44 institutes were not able to get approval or their approvals were withdrawn due to punitive action by AICTE.

In the academic year 2020-21, a total of 1.09 lakh seats approved by AICTE have been reduced in pharmacy and architecture institutions. “As per recent Supreme Court judgment, for the functioning of existing and setting up of new Architecture and Pharmacy colleges, approval of only ‘Council of Architecture’ and ‘Pharmacy Council of India’ respectively will be mandatory from the academic Year 2020-2021. As a result, the approval of AICTE has been made non-mandatory. Consequently, many of these colleges have withdrawn their affiliation & approval from AICTE resulting in a bulk reduction of seats. Effectively, the seats of pharmacy and architecture have now been taken over by their respective regulatory bodies,” AICTE official told a media house.

While 92 technical institutes had to close down in the 2019-20 academic session, the figures were 89 (2018-19), 134 (2017-18), 163 (2016-17), 126 (2015-16) and 77 (2014-15). Progressive closure means that the institute cannot admit the students for the first year during the academic year, however, the existing students will continue until completion of their course, and their degrees are treated as valid.

As per the data released by AICTE, over 69,000 seats in 762 colleges have been reduced due to a reduction in intake or closure of a particular course or division.

“The approval process for year 2020-2021 was a considerable departure from the previous years on several counts. Due to the imposition and subsequent extensions of lockdown, the approval process was delayed. It was initiated in the month of May and completed in June end. Moreover, the rigorous scrutiny which was undertaken physically at various regional offices was conducted via an online process. This involved using online video-conferencing for stakeholders to connect, verification of infrastructure and campus facilities virtually and uploading digitally signed documents. Even though new Management and Polytechnic Engineering Institutes have added seats, there has been a reduction in AICTE approved Seats,” the official said.

For the academic session 2020-21, AICTE has granted approval to 164 institutions, which added up to 39,000 seats.

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