Directorate of Higher &┬аTechnical Education, headed by Head of Department (designated Director of Higher & Technical Education) has been established as a separate Department as a result of the trifurcation of┬аEducation Department┬аin April 1989 with the Administrative Head of Department being headed by the Secretary to the Govt. of Mizoram, Education & Human Resource Development, Higher & Technical Education Department. This Directorate deals with Higher Education from Collegiate level upwards including Science & Technical Education in the State with the approval of Administrative Head of Department. At present, under the jurisdiction of Higher & Technical Education, there are as many as 8 (eight) Govt. Colleges, 12 (twelve) Deficit Colleges, 5 (five)┬аPrivate Colleges┬аincluding 1 (one) Law College and 2 (two)┬аOpen University┬аColleges. There are two┬аTeacher Training Colleges┬аand one of which is of Mizoram Hindi Training College. Altogether, there are 27 Collegiate Institutions under this Department. Proposal for provincialisation of 12 Deficit Colleges is submitted to the Government through Administrative Head of the Department. Mizoram┬аScholarshipBoard which looks after the Post Matric Scholarship of Centrally Sponsored Scheme, for students belonging to Scheduled Tribes of bonafide residents of Mizoram, is also under the Charge of this Directorate
Again, as the name implies, this Department handles Technical Education in the State. There are 2 (two) Polytechnics Institutes viz Mizoram┬аPolytechnic, Lunglei, which imparts a 3 (three) years Diploma Course in Civil,┬аMechanical and Electrical Engineering┬аrecognized by All India Council for Technical Education for such Courses, and Women Polytechnic, Durtlang, Aizawl, which is established with the approval of All India Council for Technical Education since 1998. This Institute has building of its own and imparts Courses like Electronics &┬аTelecommunication Engineering, Modern Office Practice, BCC and Garment Technology etc.
This Department also looks after the students of NERIST, Arunachal Pradesh and also about 100 engineering Students are admitted against the reserved seats for Mizoram State Quota. Students pursuing various Technical Courses are given assistance in the form of Stipend, Book Grants etc.
In order to upgrade the standards and to facilitate the functioning of Higher & Technical Education in Mizoram, the Directorate has to take up various schemes such as upgradation of Colleges as per UGC Norms in staffing pattern, upgrading of Private Colleges into Deficit Grants-in-aid and provincialisation. To maintain uniformity of standards among the Colleges, financial assistance in the form of re-curring and non-recurring grants are given to Colleges. Financial assistance is also available to the students for specific purposes, etc. It has also established and looked after Collegiate Hostels in various places in and outside the State.
Higher & Technical Department is a Nodal Department for Mizoram University (Central University) , Institute of Chartered Financial Analyst of India (ICFAI), NIELIT (formerly known as DOEACC), Regional Institute of Para Medical and Nursing Science (RIPANS) and Mizoram College of Nursing (MCON).
Beyond that, there are some other colleges and universities that are not govern by the department of Higher & Technical Education in Mizoram. Some of them are Pachhunga University College (under university), Aizawl Theological College(Study of theology and divinity under Presbyterian Church of India), Academy of Integrated Christian Studies (Study of theology and divinity under Baptist Church of Mizoram), Indira Gandhi National Open University (aka IGNOU under International University), Madhurai Kamaraj University and National Education Centre (under Himachal University).
