After graduation, many students in India choose to go for higher studies. For this purpose, there are even separate universities that only have post-graduate courses. UGC and AICTE are organizations that cater to these students and universities. They are bodies that guide and reform the entire structure of how higher studies are carried out.
UGC vs AICTE
The main difference between UGC and AICTE is that UGC is an apex body that performs various functions such as approving and funding universities, conducting exams like NET, and even placing teachers in different colleges. On the other hand, AICTE is only a statutory body that overlooks how things are planned and developed in the technical education sector.
UGC is short for ‘University Grants Commission’. It is an organization that looks over the coordination and maintenance of standards when it comes to the entire system of higher studies. The apex body was formed in 1953 and is structured in correspondence to the UGC Act 1956. UGC has its headquarters in New Delhi, along with six branches in Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Bangalore, and Guwahati.
Meanwhile, AICTE is short for ‘All India Council for Technical Education’. It only looks over the technical education sector. These include colleges and universities that teach technical related studies. The organization was founded in 1945 and was given its status in 1987. Its headquarter is situated in New Delhi but there are many branches in numerous other states.
Comparison Table Between UGC and AICTE
| Parameters of Comparison | UGC | AICTE |
| Full-Form | It is an acronym for University Grants Commission. | It is an acronym for All India Council for Technical Education. |
| Establishment | It was established in 1953. | It was established in 1945. |
| Status | It was given its statutory status in 1956 and is structured in correspondence to the UGC Act. | It was given its statutory status in 1987 in correspondence to an Act of Parliament. |
| Work | It works for all universities except those involved in technical studies. | It works only for technical colleges and universities. |
| Function | It approves universities, funds them, conducts exams like NET and even appoints teachers in numerous universities. | It takes care of the planning and development of the system of technical education. |
What is UGC?
UGC is an acronym for University Grants Commission. This is an Indian organisation that was created by the Department of higher education. The department belongs to the Ministry of Education in India. UGC is structured in a way that it complies with the UGC Act passed in 1956. Its aim is to develop, control, and maintain standards of education after college in India.
Some of the roles that UGC performs is giving different universities their status of recognition, funding them, conducting various competitive exams such as NET and even appointing teachers. However, all these are done for universities that are not solely involved in technical studies. The universities that UGC deals with are regular universities for higher studies in various fields.
The organisation also looks for students who have cleared their JRF. Furthermore, they are granted doctoral scholarships. Regardless, UGC was set up on 28 December in the year 1953. It has its headquarters in New Delhi. Apart from this, there are various other branches in Kolkata, Pune, Guwahati, Bhopal, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.
However, there has been a proposal asking for the replacement of UGC with another regulatory organisation called the HECI. This plea is still under consideration by the Government of India.
What is AICTE?
AICTE is an acronym for All India Council for Technical Education. This Indian organisation was created by the Department of Higher studies as well. However, unlike UGC, AICTE only deals with universities and colleges that provide degrees for technical studies. The primary aim of this organisation is to plan, develop, and control the faction of technical and management education pan-India.
This body was set up in November 1945. However, it was only given recognition and status in the year 1987. Since then, it has been supported by 10 other statutory boards that deal with different factions of higher studies. Some of these include Architecture, Information Technology, Hotel Management, Vocational Education, and even UG and PG research in Eng. and Tech.
Like UGC, AICTE has its headquarters in New Delhi. It has various branches in different states including Chennai, Mumbai, Kanpur, Gurgaon, Bangalore, and even Vadodara. These branches look after various aspects of higher education. Some of these include planning, maintenance, control, funding, and evaluating the situation of education.
However, AICTE is planned to be replaced as well. This will be done by another organisation called the Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA). The aim of doing so is to make the rules and regulations of higher education less complex.
Main Differences Between UGC and AICTE
- UGC stands for for University Grants Commission whereas AICTE istands for for All India Council for Technical Education.
- UGC was established in 1953 whereas AICTE was established in 1945.
- UGC was given its statutory status in 1956 and is structured in correspondence to the UGC Act whereas AICTE was given its statutory status in 1987 in correspondence to an Act of the Parliament.
- UGC works for all universities except those involved in technical studies whereas AICTE works only for technical colleges and universities.
- UGC approves universities, funds them, conducts exams like NET and even appoints teachers in numerous universities whereas AICTE takes care of the planning and development of the system of technical education.
Conclusion
UGC and AICTE are two statutory bodies that deal with various aspects of Higher Education in India. Each of them is about to be replaced by other organisations. This is because they have considerably complex rules that need reform. Regardless, a major difference between the two is that UGC deals with all universities except those involved in technical studies whereas AICTE only deals with universities involved in technical studies.
Moreover, UGC was established much later as compared to AICTE. While UGC was established in 1953, AICTE was established in 1945. UGC was given its statutory status just three years after its commencement. On the other hand, AICTE only got its statutory status in the year 1987. There are several other differences between them in terms of structure and function.
References
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3082046
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2779118