Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)

	The Ministry of Human Resource Development launched in December, 2002 the “Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme of Government of India (TEQIP)” which aims to upscale and support ongoing efforts in improving quality of technical education and enhancing existing capacities of the institutions to become dynamic, demand-driven, quality conscious, efficient and forward looking, responsive to rapid economic and technological developments occurring both at national and international levels. The Project became effective in March, 2003 for 1st Cycle States and in July 2004 for 2nd Cycle States. The closing date of the Project is 30th June, 2008.
	TEQIP is a Central and State Sector Project and the total cost of the Project is Rs. 1550 crore. Out of Rs. 1550 crore, Rs. 350 crore is a Central component (Rs. 335 crore for Centrally Funded Institutions and Rs. 15 crore for NPIU) and Rs. 1200 crore is the State component. At present 127 Institutions are participating in TEQIP, out of which 18 are Centrally Funded Institutions and 109 are State Institutions. The State Institutions are from the 13 States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The 18 Central institutions include 17 NITs and NIFFT, Ranchi. The 109 State Institutions include 90 Engineering Colleges and 19 Polytechnics.
	The revised total allocation for TEQIP for 127 project institutions is Rs. 1378 crore.

TEQIP PHASE- II

Considering the satisfactory performance of implementation of the TEQIP Phase - I, the process has been initiated for TEQIP Phase - II which will be implemented in the XI Five Year Plan.

Technician Education Project-III After the successful completion of Technician Education I & Technician Education II projects launched in the Country with the assistance of World Bank, for upgradation of Polytechnics in the country. The Government had launched another project called "Technician Education III" with the assistance of World Bank and the project was directed towards developing Polytechnics in the States/Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The Project aimed at capacity expansion, Quality Enhancement and Efficiency Improvement. The Project became effective in January 2001 and ended in June 2007. The Project covered 21 polytechnics including establishment of 9 new Polytechnics at one each at Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Tripura and two each at Meghalaya and Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir. The 12 existing Polytechnics were from Andaman & Nicobar (2) Jammu & Kashmir (4), Meghalaya (1), Mizoram (2), Nagaland (2) and Tripura(1). All the Project objectives were achieved in terms of establishing new polytechnics, new programmes, enhancing enrolment including women and disadvantaged groups. The existing laboratories & workshops were modernized and new workshops and laboratories were established. Computer Centres were established in all the Polytechnics with the provision of Internet facilities. Encouragement was given for Internal Revenue Generation, Faculty and staff development and recruitment during the implementation of the Project. In spite of difficulties in location most of the institutes obtained ISO 9001-2000 Certification. Technical Vocational Education & Training (TVE&T) Programmes conducted in the Polytechnics by using existing resources provided training and skills to the unorganized sector.

Indo-French Cyber University

	A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry for Youth National Education & for Research for the Government of the French Republic on establishing a Cyber University was signed on 8th April, 2003. In the MoU, the identified disciplines/courses are as under:  Applied Mathematics  Information Technology  Compute Engineering  Design Engineering  Aeronautical Engineering  Control Engineering  Management  Environment  Teaching of French Language  Teaching of Hindi Language.
	The activities carried out at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in Applied Mathematics (Emaths) in pursuance with Memorandum of Understanding signed between Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Toulouse University Network, France has been treated as activities of this Cyber University.
	The primary aim of the project is to create a cyber-platform devoted to information exchange between India and France within the fields of research development, education, training, transfer of technology and dissemination of knowledge on a long term non-commercial basis. In the first phase, the project is concentrating on developing and delivering a set of post graduate level courses in applied mathematics.
	The following seven courses have been offered at IISc., Bangalore till date with English as the medium of instruction wherein, the Indian and French students participated.  Control and Homogenization  Combustion and Shock Wave  Cryptography,  Nonlinear Analysis and Applications to Differential Equations  Linear and Nonlinear Time Series Analysis  Computational Fluid Dynamics  Optimal Design.

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) was established in 1959 as the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering with the objective of meeting the advanced technical education need of SEATO Member States. In 1967, SEATO relinquished its control and the institute was renamed Asian Institute of Technology and became an autonomous institute with the management being entrusted to an International Board of Trustees. At present India ’s Ambassador in Bangkok, is a member of the Board of Trustees of AIT, Bangkok .

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok is an autonomous international graduate institute providing advanced education in engineering, science and allied fields. The AIT Academic year has two terms beginning January and August. The Government of India provides support to the AIT by way of secondment of Indian Faculty for a period of 16 weeks in selected areas of specialization and reimburses Rs. 33.00 lakhs to the seconded faculty every year. In addition, the Government of India also provides funds to AIT for purchase of Indian equipment, books and journals every year. (www.ait.ac.th)

Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC), Manila

	The Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC) is a specialized agency of the Colombo Plan. It was established on December 5, 1973 at the 23rd Consultative Committee Meeting of the Colombo Plan held in Wellington, New Zealand, to assist the member Countries of the Colombo Plan in developing and enhancing their technician education systems. It became operational in 1974 with the Republic of Singapore serving as the first host Government for twelve years. In 1986, CPSC moved to Manila, Philippines.
	The Colombo Plan Staff College is a unique organization, being the only regional institution addressing issues related to quality improvement in technician education and training in the Asia - Pacific region. The objective of the staff college is to improve the quality of technician education and training in the Colombo Plan region by meeting the need for technician teacher educators and trainers and senior staff in technician education who can play a more active part in in-service training and staff development programmes.
	Besides the regional programmes, In-country programmes are also conducted by CPSC, Manila. (www.cpsctech.org)