AICTE permits second shifts at engineering colleges

With an aim to make technical education more accessible, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has allowed engineering colleges across the country to start second shifts from the forthcoming academic session.The institutes offering technical education have been asked to submit applications for launching the second shifts and offering courses accordingly.
"This will lead to an increase in the intake of students of the existing institutes. As a result, more students will get engineering education," said a senior HRD Ministry official.As per the guidelines prepared by AICTE, co-educational institutions having four years of standing and women institutes having three years of standing will be allowed to start the second shifts.Co-educational institutions in the states, in which the number of seats available in engineering institutions per lakh population is less than the all India average, are permitted to run second shifts.An official release from AICTE said, “There has been phenomenal growth of technical institutions during the past three decades, which has however resulted in a regional imbalance in the technical education system in the Country. In order to overcome the regional imbalance, it may be necessary to permit second shift in an existing engineering college in those states where the number of seats available in engineering colleges per lakh of population is less than all India average without additional investment and also to utilize the existing resources in optimal manner and to minimize the cost of education”.These states include Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal."But women institutes from any part of the country can start such shifts," the official added.