Private degree college managements in A.P. oppose AICTE norms for offering BBA, BCA and BMS courses

The private degree colleges managements argue that the AICTE’s move to take over the BBA, BCA and BMS courses from the University Grants Commission and State universities will push the colleges into a crisis. The AICTE, in a notification issued on December 8, 2023, made it mandatory for all arts and science colleges offering BBA and BCA courses to secure its approval from the academic year 2024-25. Subsequently, on January 8, 2024, the UGC directed all State Universities to inform its affiliate colleges that intended to offer these programmes to comply with the rule.

Members of the Andhra Pradesh Private Degree College Managements’ Association took out a rally on February 1 (Thursday) in protest against the notification that mandates permission from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for offering Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) and Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) courses.

Speaking to the media after taking out the protest rally, they said the new norms would push their institutions into serious financial crisis.

The requirement to provide infrastructure and instructional facilities to offer allied science and arts courses, and BBA, BCA and BMA courses are different, and required bigger investments, they said, adding that to fulfill the AICTE norms, the existing degree colleges would have to invest at least ₹2-3 crore for creating new infrastructure.

They said the AICTE’s move to take over the BBA, BCA and BMS courses from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and State Universities would push the college managements into crisis. It would also have adverse impact in the multi and inter-disciplinary approach mooted by the National Education Policy-2020 and might result in a significant drop in the admissions to arts, science and management colleges, and job loss to many.

“The challenge lies not only in the possible saturation of the market with the engineering colleges offering BBA and BCA courses, but also in the stringent norms set by the AICTE,” they said.

The AICTE, in a notification issued on December 8, 2023, made it mandatory for all arts and science colleges offering BBA and BCA courses to secure its approval from the academic year 2024-25. Subsequently, on January 8, 2024, the UGC directed all State Universities to inform its affiliate colleges that intended to offer these programmes to comply with the rule.

The colleges in the State had been following the norms and regulation stipulated by the UGC and the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) in the past.