SC extends stay on AICTE guidelines for admission

Updated on: Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Supreme Court extended its stay on the AICTE guidelines to regulate admission, fees and curriculum of private management colleges offering Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) courses for the academic year of 2012-13.

A bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik extended its interim order passed on March 17 this year staying All India Council for Technical Education's (AICTE) guidelines for PGDM institutes for the academic year of 2012-13.

Meanwhile, the apex court also gave AICTE a go-ahead to its proposed national-level exam for admission in management institutes.

The bench said the government could bring one national exam in place of the existing five national-level entrance examinations permitted by it on March 17, 2011.

The apex court was hearing petitions against the AICTE notification of December 28, 2010, in which the technical education regulator had proposed to take control of PGDM admissions, its fees and curriculum.

As per the interim orders of the apex court on March 17, 2011, admission in management institutes were only through the five national level exams.

These were Common Admission Test (CAT) by elite IIMs, Joint Management Entrance Test (JMAT) for admission in management programmes at IITs and IISC, Xavier's Aptitude Test (XAT) by XLRI, Management Aptitude Test (MAT) by All India Management Institute and AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA) by national network of management schools.

In the interim order, the apex court had also allowed management institutions freedom to have their own fees set-up. However, the bench had directed them to inform AICTE and the state government about their fees.

It had also said that instead of five as directed by AICTE, there would be only two government nominees on the board of PGDM colleges.

In the notification, AICTE has laid down fresh rules for the council-approved technical institutions offering degree, diploma and PGDM courses in the country.

According to it, all PGDM shall be of two years and admission in such courses should be only by two nationally recognised entrance tests CAT or MAT or by the test conducted by the state governments as CET in Maharashtra.

It had also said that fees for PGDM course would be approved by the apex court-appointed fee fixation panel. It also made mandatory nomination of at least five nominees on behalf of AICTE and state government on the private management colleges.

It was opposed by the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), Educational Promotion Society of India (EPSI) and group of PGDM institues before the apex court.

SC extends stay on AICTE guidelines for admission

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