Agartala, May 27:In a major push to reform and strengthen the higher education landscape of Tripura, the state government has announced the establishment of three new general degree colleges and the conversion of two existing institutions into full-fledged universities. The announcement was made by H. Raval Kumar, Special Secretary of the Higher Education Department, during a press briefing held at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
Accompanied by Animesh Debbarma, Director of Higher Education, and Rajesh Bhattacharjee, Assistant Director, Kumar said the move aligns with Tripura’s vision to emerge as an educational hub in the Northeast. As part of this plan, the three new colleges will be set up at Ambassa in Dhalai district, and at Korbook and Kakraban in Gomati district. These colleges are set to become operational from the current academic year using renovated existing infrastructure.
Alongside this expansion, the state government has initiated full-scale digitisation of administrative and academic processes in all government colleges, including online admissions via the national SAMARTH portal. As per directives from the Ministry of Education and Tripura University, manual admissions have been discontinued from this year. Online applications commenced from May 23, aiming to enhance transparency and merit-based selection while resolving longstanding issues linked to offline admissions.
“Every year, approximately 20,000 to 22,000 students take admission in Tripura’s colleges. The SAMARTH portal will streamline this process significantly,” Kumar said.
With the addition of the three new colleges and the introduction of BA programmes in two professional teacher training institutes — IASE, Kunjaban, and CTE, Kumarghat — the total number of general colleges in the state has risen to 28. The total intake capacity for the first semester in the 2025-26 academic year has now increased to 31,954 students. Initially, 40 faculty members will be deployed in the newly established institutions.
The two BEd colleges, which will now also offer general undergraduate courses under the multidisciplinary approach of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, are also expected to eventually introduce the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), depending on faculty availability.
In a significant future-oriented development, the department also plans to set up two new universities — Government Technical University at the TIT campus and Government Women’s University at the Women’s College campus in Agartala. Preparatory work and drafting of necessary legislation for these institutions are currently underway.
These measures mark a comprehensive effort by the state government to modernise higher education, widen access, and promote Tripura as a key academic destination in the Northeast region.
