Karnataka Higher Education Minister Ashwath Narayan announced Wednesday that 30 engineering colleges in the state, including 14 government ones, had been selected for RETE (Regional Ecosystem For Technical Excellence-pronounced Reeti), an initiative for upgrading 30 engineering colleges to global standards in five years.
Speaking after receiving a report on the initiative from a committee headed by Visvesvaraya Technological University vice-chancellor Karisiddappa, the minister said, “Considering one college in each district, a total of 30 colleges across the state have been selected for RETE. These are considered under the three categories of incubation, accelerator and Super-30. Private colleges have been considered in districts where there are no government colleges,” he said.
The state has only 25 institutions—fewer than 10 per cent—in the top 300 colleges of the National Institutional Ranking (NIRF) Framework 2022. The 25 institutions are located across eight districts, with not a single college from the other 22 districts. And 52 per cent of the institutions are in one district, Bengaluru.
The 18-page report said that no government engineering college in the state is recognised by the National Board of Accreditation and that 10 districts do not have NBA-accredited private colleges either. As many as 114 engineering colleges in the state are accredited.
“The government aims to provide the highest quality technological education to students in places nearer to them. For this, a high-power committee was constituted last November to prepare a framework. Apart from this, a subcommittee headed by Prashant Prakash (chairperson of the State Vision Group of Startups) was formed to identify the private or unaided engineering colleges,” the minister said.
Narayan said RETE would help create industrial awareness and promote research-based education in tier-2 and -3 engineering colleges.
RETE will be implemented collaboratively by the government, industry and Visvesvaraya Technological University, each bearing 33 per cent of the expenses.
The objective of the project is to design, develop and deliver relevant academic programmes in emerging areas; strengthen academic and physical infrastructure; ensure effective governance; enhance quality of learning and teaching process; offer academic programmes relevant to industry and socio-economic needs; and offer skill-oriented certification programmes in partnership with industry.
By the end of the project, each participating institution should attain an NIRF ranking in three years and global recognition in five years, and at least 80 per cent of its programmes should be accredited by the NBA. Permanent affiliation with VTU if required; a governance structure on par with autonomous colleges; collaboration with at least three industries, including an information technology industry and one from a core engineering discipline; placement for at least 50 per cent of the final-year students; and at least one high-quality internship for 75 per cent of the students every year are some other goals of the initiative. Colleges failing to meet the goals will be withdrawn.
Selected government colleges
The fourteen government colleges are the Chamarajanagara, Challakere, Hasana, Haveri, Kushalanagara, Talakadu, Krishnarajapete, Raichur, Ramanagara, Karwar, Huvinahadagali engineering colleges, SKSJTI (Bengaluru), University BDT College (Davanagere) and VTU PG Centre (Kalaburagi).
Selected private colleges
The private colleges are Angadi Institute of Technology & Management, Belagavi; Channabasaveshwara Engineering College, Gubbi (Tumakuru); Sri Madhwa Vadiraja Engineering & Management College, Udupi; GSSS Mahila Engineering & Technological Institute, Mysuru; Dr T Timmaiah Technological Education College, KGF (Kolara); Biluguru Gurubasava Mahaswameeji Institute, Mudhola (Bagalakota); PG Halakatti College of Engineering & Technology, Vijayapura; Adichunchanagiri Technological Institute, Chikkamagaluru; SJC Institute of Technology, Chikkaballapura; Rao Bahaddur Y.Mahabaleshwarappa Engineering College, Bellary; PES Technological & Management Institute, Shivamogga; Bheemanaa Khandre Technological College, Bhalki (Bidar District) Thontadarya Technological College, Gadag; Vivekananda Engineering & Technological College, Putturu (Dakshina Kannada); Jain Engineering College, Hubballi; Veerappa Nishti Engineering College, Surapura (Yadagiri).
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