Performance to determine fee structure for engineering colleges

When the fee fixation panel called the Shikshan Shulka Samiti (SSS) of Maharashtra decides to finalise the fees for the engineering colleges, a primary factor to be taken into consideration will be the key performance indicators (KPIs) devised by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) for grading engineering colleges. This was announced by the SSS’ Office Secretary P E Gaikwad.

Speaking at a meeting on engineering education at the Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT) at Pune, Gaikwad said: 

“We are seriously contemplating giving incentives like apt raise in fees for the performing institutions. A positive decision will be taken soon and colleges meeting the KPIs will benefit to a great extent.”  

The KPI programme was unveiled by the Maharashtra state’s DTE Quality Assurance Cell chief Sangeeta Joshi. According to Gaikwad, from this year (2009-10), the fee panel has introduced an incentive of 3 to 5 per cent hike in tuition fees for professional colleges which offer courses accredited by the National Board Accreditation (NBA). 

For example, colleges having 50 per cent of their courses accredited by the NBA can put into effect a three per cent hike while those having cent per cent of their courses accredited will qualify for a 5 per cent hike in their tuition fees. 

Speaking on the occasion, Joshi said: 

“The KPIs are the mechanism for monitoring performance of engineering institutions and a vital tool for identifying the best institutions, which can be used for mentoring other institutes, networking and resource sharing. All these objectives are aimed at improving the quality of engineering education.” 

The programme is to be implemented through an independent online web-based portal and will cover three major areas -- human resources and infrastructure development which are proposed to be linked with fee fixation, academic and professional output and governance and socio-industry interaction.  

According to Joshi, a cumulative tally of marks will eventually determine the grade for a given institution. For instance, those scoring 85 per cent and above will be graded ‘A’ category institutions while those scoring 70 to 84 per cent and 60 to 69 per cent will fall in the ‘B’ and ‘C’ grades, respectively. Colleges scoring below 60 per cent will be categorised in the ‘D’ category. The below ‘C’ grade institutions will not be allowed any variation in their student intake or to start a new course.  

Joshi further said: 

“If they fail to improve for another two years, their continuation as engineering institutions won’t be recommended to the All India Council for Technical Education. The universities too will be asked to take action like de-affiliation against institutions that are in existence for seven or more years but still end up scoring below ‘C’ grade in the KPI programme.” 

 

Hence, performance will be the key criterion for judging engineering colleges in Maharashtra. The colleges that do not meet the parameters of performance cannot deem of raising their fee. Only top-graded institutes will be allowed to revise their fee structures.