Retired Teachers From IIT & NIT To Mentor Struggling Colleges

New Delhi: Retired faculties from elite technical institutes such as IITs and NITs will soon be mentoring other engineering colleges that are struggling to provide quality education.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), governing technical education in the country, has decided to rope in retired professors with years of experience to turn around the mediocre institutes. The level of learning and student output has been an area of concern both for the industry as well as academicians.

“These mentors will be in a better position to help institutes improve quality of education and student experience, which will automatically make the process of acquiring accreditation easier for technical institutes,” AICTE director Anil Sahasrabuddhe told Hindustan Times.

The move would prove a boon for technical colleges, especially in states like Odisha where unavailability of quality faculty has severely affected credibility and learning outcome.

In December 2017, AICTE initiated a mission to introduce better systems and processes in order to improve the quality of education imparted in technical institutes across the country, such as imposing a blanket ban on establishment of new institutes from academic year 2020-21.

Last year, AICTE proposed well-performing colleges mentor neighbouring institutes that were struggling to make the cut. “Making such clusters will prove helpful to all as one or more colleges can share resources and expertise and help each other. In case colleges can’t find such mentor colleges, we will request retired faculty to help such institutes with their expertise,” Sahasrabuddhe said.