Allow student entrepreneurs with short attendance to sit for exams: AICTE to engineering colleges

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has directed engineering colleges and technical institutions to allow student entrepreneurs to sit for examination even if their attendance is short.

The colleges have also been asked to explore provisions of on-campus accommodation to student entrepreneurs and permitting semester break for working on their startups.

The decision by the HRD Ministry's technical education regulator has been taken to encourage more students to take up research and innovation to turn into entrepreneurs and build a culture of ultimately becoming job givers than job seekers.

"Student entrepreneurs should be allowed to sit for the examination, even if their attendance is less than the minimum permissible percentage, with due permission from the institute," a senior council official told PTI.

"The institutions should allow their students to take a semester or year break or even more depending upon the decision of review committee constituted by the institute to work on their startups and re-join academics to complete the course," the official added.

The AICTE has told institutions that they can also award academic credits.

"Student entrepreneurs may earn academic credits for their efforts while creating an enterprise. Institutes should set up a review committee for review of startup by students, and based on the progress made, it may consider giving appropriate credits for academics," the official said.

"The institutes should explore provision of accommodation to the entrepreneurs within the campus for some period of time," he added.

According to the council, for strengthening the innovation funnel of the institute, access to financing must be opened for the potential entrepreneurs.

"The institute should link their startups and companies with wider entrepreneurial ecosystem and by providing support to students who show potential, in pre-startup phase. Connecting student entrepreneurs with real life entrepreneurs will help the students in understanding real challenges which may be faced by them while going through the innovation funnel and will increase the probability of success," the official said.