MBA and Engineering in distance mode now

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body for professional courses, will allow colleges to offer engineering and MBA via distance mode. The council had earlier stated that professional courses like engineering required intensive practical training and programmes such as an MBA ought to have several hours of classroom discussions and debates as business had several tones of grey that an aspiring manager must understand.

The AICTE's change of heart will not only augment the number of professionals in India, but will also prove to be a game-changer as the fees will be a lot lesser than what students pay to attend college. But every candidate will have to sit for an exit or a licentiate examination, termed as the National Eligibility Test, at the end of the course before she or he is declared an engineer or the MBA or MCA degree is awarded.

A student should have completed a degree or a diploma in the classroom mode and attained a minimum of five years of work experience before they can take up a professional course via the distance learning mode.

"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," According to an Official. The AICTE is currently drawing up rules and the approval process for colleges wanting to offer courses though the virtual medium. Interested colleges can apply from March 1.