The Directorate of Technical Education was established in the year 1981 by the creation of a unified body for the administration and control of the Institutions imparting Technical/ Vocational Trainings in the State. The integration was felt necessary to co-ordinate the related training activities and to affect more efficient utilization of the mutual resources for the overall development of the training scenario in the State.
There were a total of 21 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI's) and 2 Polytechnics in the State at the time of the creation of the Directorate and with the growth and diversification of the activities of the Department, the number now stands at 37 ITI's and 12 Polytechnics. The ITI's, providing a more fundamental type of training, are located in all the major townships of the State while as the Polytechnics, aiming at producing middle order technical personnel, are located in the two capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu.
The Board came into being as an individual entity under the Directorate of Technical Education in 1981. It has now been transformed into an autonomous body by an Act of 2002, of the State Legislature.
The volume of the work of the SBOTE has increased manifold over the years with the increase in the number of courses offered by the Polytechnics and also the increase in the number of Institutions/Seats.
The main functions performed by the Board are:
* Affiliation of Institutes/ Courses
* Conduct of Examinations of the Polytechnics
* Certification