In colleges affiliated to the Mumbai University, 75 per cent attendance is mandatory for students to appear for any examination. With the new policy, this may be relaxed for students along with other facilities
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Working on a start-up while completing your engineering degree? Thanks to a new start-up policy designed by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) specifically for engineering and technology colleges, your college will go easy on your attendance. In addition, institutes will also be asked to give academic credits and allow breaks of one semester or a year to students working on start-ups.
The development heralds a major change in the focus of the AICTE — encouraging students to become job-givers instead of seekers. Such policies have already shown positive results among premier institutes such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs). This is the first time that such a policy has been designed for all engineering colleges.
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"The idea is to provide an atmosphere that supports the start-up culture. This is also expected to increase research and innovation," said a senior officer at the Ministry of Human Resources Department (MHRD). In colleges affiliated to the Mumbai University, 75% attendance is mandatory for students to appear for any examination. With the new policy, this may be relaxed for students along with other facilities.
"Institutes should set up a review committee for start-ups by students, and based on the progress made, they may consider giving appropriate credits for academics. "Students who are under incubation, but are pursuing some entrepreneurial ventures while studying should be allowed to use the institute's address to register their company," read some of the aspects of the recently declared start-up policy of the AICTE.
The new policy has been welcomed by technology colleges. Suresh Ukrande, in-charge dean of the Technology faculty at Mumbai University, said, "Some colleges in the city such as VJTI, SPCE, and Somaiya College already have functional incubation centres.
"The will create awareness among other colleges. It is time for academia to come out of the rigid framework. Colleges must maintain a periodical review of relaxation in attendance, duration of break and other things to ensure there is no misuse of any facility."
MS Kurhade, a senior academician from Mumbai University, said, "This is a practical approach to foster innovative thinking among students. The start-up policy can be merged with it to give academic credits to those working on start-ups."
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