The draft Bill of the proposed Kerala Technological University (KTU) has recommended granting affiliation to self-financing engineering colleges aimed at stepping up the quality of technical education in the State.
A detailed project report on KTU, prepared by the Directorate of Technical Education last year, had not brought self-financing colleges under the ambit of the proposed university initially.
The Bill, likely to be taken up for detailed discussion soon, laid out the roadmap to catapult the quality of technical education through effective application of information technology, internet connectivity, and advanced information systems in education and research, sources said.
De-affiliation
Experts associated with the formulation of the Bill told The Hindu that the university would not be able to achieve its objectives, if self-financing engineering colleges were not given affiliation. It could be reliably learnt that the Bill will include provisions to de-affiliating self-financing colleges with a poor academic record.
The academic performance of the colleges will be reviewed. The draft Bill will also prescribe rules and regulations to improve the quality of engineering colleges affiliated to the KTU.
Establishment of KTU was part of the 100-day programme of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government. Unlike traditional universities, KTU will function on a sophisticated broadband network platform.
Better standards
The university’s structure was expected to improve academic standards of colleges as these institutions will need to adapt innovative administrative and academic practices. The headquarters of the university shall be at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. Complete academic freedom will be provided to constituent colleges and they will function with the necessary freedom to design the curriculum, frame syllabus, and conduct the examinations. Initially, all government engineering colleges in the State will be included as the constituent colleges.
Centres of research in thrust areas of technology will be established to foster postgraduate education and research. Cooperation and funding from national and international agencies will be sought to establish the centres.
These centres will act as the hub of research in frontier areas of technology and will have interaction with industry. The university will also have incubation centres, technology transfer centres, and intellectual property bureaus in the constituent colleges.
