WAWE Summit to be jointly organized by AICTE and IIWM at Jaipur: HRD Minister

Speaking on the occasion Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal said that ‘WAWE Summit 2019’ is a great initiative because women have skills in their hands and it will further empower and motivate them.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' launched several initiatives of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)in New Delhi today. It includes Facilitation through Margadarshan and Margadarshak, Model Curriculum for Diploma Courses, Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE Summit 2019) and 360-degree Feedback of Faculty.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal said that 'WAWE Summit 2019' is a great initiative because women have skills in their hands and it will further empower and motivate them. The Minister informed that the WAWE Summit will be held in November-December 2019. It will be jointly organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Institute of Waste Management (IIWM) at Jaipur. He further said that this conclave will be part of a series of activities to encourage entrepreneurship amongst young graduates.

The Union Minister said that we need to be at the top in World rankings and the path to take our technical education to the top in the world is made easier through such initiatives. It is necessary to create new courses to prepare students for a better understanding of this competitive age and, Model Curriculum for Diploma Courses is an effort in this direction.

He further said that Facilitation through Margadarshan and Margadarshak is also a very good initiative in which the topmost institutions will mentor other institutions so that they can improve their rankings and follow best practices of the mentor institute. The Minister also informed that the teachers (Margdarshak) will also be guiding other institutions for their betterment.

Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal highlighted that 360-degree feedback of faculty scheme will increase the quality of education. This scheme will encourage both students and teachers. The Minister hoped that these schemes are launched to improve the quality of education and will further contribute to creating New India.

Facilitation through Margadarshan and Margadarshak

A] Margadarshan: Under this scheme, institutions having good accreditation record / highly performing institutions are supposed to mentor relatively newer 10 - 12 potential institutions. Best practices in the teaching-learning process followed in the mentor institute are diffused to mentee institutions. These institutions are also provided funding up to Rs. 50 lakhs (Rupees Fifty Lakhs Only) per institution over a period of three years in installments for carrying out various activities like training, workshops, conferences, and travel.

Margdarshak: Under this scheme, mentor teachers or Margdarshaks who are either serving or superannuated but willing and motivated with good knowledge of accreditation and who can devote adequate time to make required visits to these Institutions are identified. These Margdarshaks will regularly visit the mentee institutions, stay on their campus and guide them for their improvement in quality so that institutions are able to get accreditation by the NBA.

Selection of Mentors: Total 942 applications were received from working / superannuated Professors of IITs / NITs which were further screened and finally 296 mentors are identified.

Selection of Mentee Institutes: In the 1st phase, institutes having a student enrolment of 70% or more and willing to get mentoring through AICTE's Margadarshaks, but are not yet accredited are provided Margadarshaks. Remaining institutes can be covered in the subsequent phases. The willingness of mentee institutes is taken. However, response giving willingness to be a Mentee institute has been received from 400 institutes only to date.

Criteria for Margadarshaksare:

Must be a Ph.D.

Should be from Technical Education (Engg.) Domain

Min experience 20 years; Not less than 5 years in academics And

Designation not less than Professor if from AICTE approved institution Or

Not less than Associate Professor if from IIT/NIT And

Minimum 10 Research Publications Or

Minimum 05 Ph.D. Guidance Or

Minimum 2 Patents OrMinimum 2 Books written And

Member NBA visit team / NAAC visit team Or Participated in the accreditation of his/her own department at least for 2 cycles

Persons from the industry with a passion for education & who are NBA/NAAC team members

Applicants should have time to visit institutes

B] Margadarshak tenure: Initially for 6 months. Extendable on year on year basis

As envisioned, about 2/3rd programs in mentoring technical institutions are expected to be accredited through the NBA before 2022. There are approximately 3200 institutes with 70 percent or more enrolment.

(With Inputs from PIB)