The Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) are centrally funded technical institutes located across India. They are a group of autonomous public institutes of higher education under Ministry of Education, Government of India. They were established with the objectives of providing quality Architecture and physical planning education. The SPAs primarily offer undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive education programmes.
Each SPA is autonomous and exercises independent control over its day-to-day operations. However, the administration of all SPAs and the overall strategy of SPAs is overseen by the SPA council. The SPA Council is headed by India's Minister of Human Resource Development and consists of the chairpersons and directors of all SPAs and senior officials from the MHRD.
Institutes
The SPAs lists three institutes located at Bhopal, New Delhi and Vijayawada.
History
The history of the SPA system dates back to 1946 when Sir Jogendra Singh of the Viceroy's Executive Council set up a committee whose task was to consider the creation of Higher Technical Institutions for post-war industrial development in India. The 22-member committee, headed by Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, recommended the establishment of these institutions in various parts of India, along the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and consulting from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with affiliated secondary institutions.
The first School of Planning and Architecture was founded in 1941 as a Department of Architecture of Delhi College of Engineering now the Delhi Technological University. It was later affiliated to the University of Delhi and integrated with the School of Town and Country Planning which was established in 1955 by the Government of India to provide facilities for rural, urban and regional planning. On integration, the School was renamed as School of Planning and Architecture in 1959. Recognizing its national and international eminence, the Government of India conferred the status of the 'Deemed University' on the School in 1979. This entitled the SPA, New Delhi to broaden and deepen its academic horizons by introducing new academic programmes, and by promoting critical research activities.
On the request of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India a project report was prepared by Institute of Town Planners, India (ITPI) for establishing four new Schools of Planning & Architecture in the country. Based on this report the Government took a decision to establish two SPAs, one in Bhopal and the other in Vijayawada.
Organisational structure
The Minister of Education is the most powerful person in the organisational structure of SPAs, being the Chairman, General Council. Under the SPA Council is the Board of Governors of each SPA. Under the Board of Governors is the Director, who is the chief academic and executive officer of the SPA. Under the Director, in the organisational structure, comes the Heads of Departments, Registrar, President of the Students' Council, and Chairman of the Hall Management Committee. The Registrar is the chief administrative officer of the SPA and overviews the day-to-day operations. Below the Heads of Department (HOD) are the faculty members (Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors). The Wardens come under the Chairman of the Hall Management Committee.
Admission
The SPAs have a common admission process for undergraduate admissions. It was called AIEEE, which was replaced by Joint Entrance Examination - Main in 2013. Admission to most postgraduate courses in SPAs is granted through various interviews and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering. The admission for Ph.D. shall possess the following qualifications:- Master's Degree in Urban Planning or Regional Planning or Environmental Planning or Housing or Transport Planning or Landscape Architecture or Urban Design or Architectural Conservation or Building Engineering and Management or Industrial Design conducted by the School, or equivalent from any other recognized university or institution with a minimum of 55 percent aggregate marks; or Bachelor's degree in Planning or Architecture of the School or its equivalent from any other recognized university or institution with a minimum of 55 percent aggregate marks and five years experience in teaching, research or professional practice.
Relaxation in the aggregate marks specified above may be made in case of exceptionally qualified applicants.