Description
Punjab Technical University (PTU) was established by an act of State Legislature on 16 th Jan-1997, to promote Technical, Management & Pharmaceutical education in the state at the Degree level and above. The University has the mandate to set up centres of Excellence in Emerging Technologies and for promoting Training, Research & Development in these areas. One of the main focus of the University at this time is in the area of professional & skill oriented technologies to the masses. The University has undertaken the task of training students to help in the development of skilled manpower in this sector in the country in general and in the state particular. With this goal in mind, the University is promoting a number of courses in different streams in regular as well as distance education programmes. Now the university, under its administration, has 250 Colleges offering Courses in Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, B.Sc MLT, Hotel Management & Catering Technology and IT Disciplines and 1005 Learning centers under distance education programme. It has taken new initiatives in technical education to provide latest trends in technology and give opportunity to student and faculty to interact with the technology leaders in the country including e-Governance to PTU. It is well known that quality of education is dependent on the quality of teachers and research inputs. In order to provide opportunity to the faculty to improve their qualification and to introduce research activities, the University has established nine regional centers at various locations in Punjab and have started M.Tech courses and also agreed to provide academic research input to these centers. University also forms the bridge between the students and the industry and helping the students in job placements. Also University helps the industry in R&D through its various programmes under Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Distance Education Program In a country like India, Distance education is an effective way of spreading the education & technology to the people. Distance education is an established and recognized mode of education, which is in consonance with changing socio-economic needs and emerging demands of the knowledge era. Keeping up with the sprit of Open University system and in accordance with National Policy of Education, which lays emphasis on continuing and distance education, the University is providing quality education in rural and urban areas. To equip young men and women with the expertise in the emerging field, Punjab Technical University has set up more than 300 Learning Centers in all the regions of Punjab and across the nation, which are conducting the diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses in IT, Fashion & Beauty Technologies, Paramedical & Applied Technologies, Hotel Management & Tourism and Media Technologies. The University has a mission to provide excellent education to the PTU students and make the affiliated Learning Centers as center of excellence. Now the distance education programme is being revamped and a lot of progressive moves to modernize the mode of teaching are being taken by the University. Interim Council of distance education has been constituted, which gives guidelines for the improvement of distance program are being undertaken. For all the courses, the new syllabus pattern (with effect from September2003 session) is implemented to meet the requirements of current emerging field. Today this programme is a tremendous success among the students all over the states by offering the high demand courses in IT, Fashion & Beauty Technologies, Paramedical & Applied Technologies, Hotel Management & Tourism and Media Technologies.