Now Become an Engineer without Going to College

AICTE chairman S S Mantha said "This will be a mixed mode of education—while practical training will take place face-to-face, theory can be conducted using ICT," as reported by TNN.

The decision was made on the proposal of a committee headed by Sanjay Dhande, former IIT-Kanpur director and M Anandkrishnan IIT-Kanpur chairman as they considered the possibility of offering engineering and other professional courses through the distance learning. Mantha also explained that all professional courses apart from pharmacy and architecture can be conducted virtually.

Mantha also said that "Essentially, there will be an entrance test and an exit exam that all students signing up for a course under the distance education mode will have to take. We have to preserve the quality of students at both the stages," reported TNN.

The AICTE is presently sketching the rules and the approval procedure for colleges wanting to offer courses though the virtual mode. At present there are 14 open universities and 172 other institutions that offer courses in higher education through distance learning to about 40 lakh students.

Also Read: India to Track Foreign Students From 2013