College System and Higher Education

The higher education system is principally divided into three levels namely: Undergraduate or Bachelor's Level (e.g. B.Sc., B.A., B.E., M.B.B.S., L.L.B., etc.) Postgraduate or Master's Level (e.g. M.Sc., M.A., M.Tech., M.S., LL.M., etc.) Doctoral (Ph.D.)

Bachelor's degrees in science, arts and commerce take three years of study but in vocational subjects like pharmacy, dentistry, architecture, medicine and technology the duration may vary between four to five and a half years. Many universities and colleges offer `honors' courses at graduation level, which may not be longer in duration but indicate greater depth in study. Diploma courses are also available at the undergraduate level and the duration of their study may vary from 1 to 3 years.

Master's degree is normally of two-year duration. It could either be course or research based. Admission to post graduate programs in engineering and technology is done on the basis of GATE.

Those interested in pursuing further studies may either directly register themselves for PhD or do a pre-doctoral program -Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) which is either completely research based or may also include some course work. It takes lesser time to complete PhD for those doing it after M.Phil. Postgraduate level diploma courses are also available which are generally of one-year duration.

The higher education system, comprising of various universities, colleges, professional institutes etc caters to around 7 million students. Though State Governments are responsible for establishment of State Universities and running them, Government of India is primarily responsible for framing major policies relating to higher education in the country.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT): In the area of school education the Government of India has set up an apex resource organization 'The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)' which assists and advises the Central and State Governments on academic matters related to school education. The NCERT provides academic and technical support for improvement of school education through its various constituents like the National Institute of Education (NIE), Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) and a number of Regional Institutes of Education (RIE) located at different cities.

Distance Education Council (DEC) It is the apex body responsible for promotion and maintenance of standards of open and distance education in India. There are ten open universities in India at present and Indira Gandhi National University (IGNOU) is the only National Open University, the remaining nine are a State Open Universities (SOUs). However there are 62 university level traditional institutions, which also impart education through correspondence/distance mode.

Bar Council of India (BCI)
It is formed under Advocates Act, 1961. It promotes legal education and lay down the standards of professional education and ethics for advocates. The National Council For Teacher Education (NCTE)

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)  is a national-level statutory body of the Government of India, established in 1995. Its objective is to plan co-ordinated development of teacher education system, regulate, maintain and monitor norms and standards in teacher education. It lays down norms for teacher education courses, accredits institutions, frames recruitment norms, carries out surveys, research and innovations. The NCTE has four Regional Offices at Jaipur, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar and Bhopal respectively.

University Grants Commission (UGC)
his is a Government of India entity and is responsible for coordination, determination and maintenance of standards, and release of central grants to the universities. Apart from this, Government of India has also established sixteen central universities in the country, which are totally funded by the UGC.

Department Of Education
The Department of Education, one of the four constituent departments of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, is under the overall charge of the Minister of Human Resource Development who is assisted by a Minister of State. The Secretariat of the Department is headed by a Secretary, who is also assisted by an Additional Secretary. The Department is organised into Bureaux, Divisions, Branches, Desks, Sections and Units. Each Bureau is under the charge of a Joint Secretary/ Joint Educational Adviser assisted by divisional heads.

Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
It was established by an Act of Parliament to develop, promote and co-ordinate technical education in the country. Technical Education broadly covers the field of engineering & technology, architecture & town planning, management, pharmacy and applied arts & crafts. The council grants approval for starting new technical institutions and introduction of new programs in consultation with the agencies concerned. Recently it has also created a separate body-National Body of Accreditation (NBA) that gives accreditation to institutions and grades the courses offered by them.

Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR)
It keeps the information and provides consultancy on agriculture, horticulture, resource management, animal sciences, agricultural engineering, fisheries, agricultural extension, agricultural education, home science and agricultural communication. It has the mandates to co-ordinate agricultural research and development programmes.