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In Maharashtra, fewer takers for engineering stream
published on : 03-01-2014
Category : All India Council for Technical Education
MUMBAI: Vacancies in engineering colleges across Maharashtra, which were less than 1% four years ago, have gone up to above 33%, this year's data has revealed. This means one in three seats in these colleges is lying vacant. This shocking revelation came in a recent report by a government-appointed committee, which was told to recommend solutions to the problem faced by technical institutes. Vacancies in popular courses, such as computer science and electrical engineering, which have seen vacancies of around 45%, have largely contributed to vacancies this academic year. In 2009-10, there were 0.79% seats vacant in 271 engineering institutes in the country. The number of institutes saw a rise in 2010-11 to 309, which experts in the committee attributed to the All-India Council of Technical Education's (AICTE) 'liberal' policies. Vacancies in individual courses were attributed to the fancy nomenclature in the report. For example, the group in electrical engineering and similar courses, created vacancies of around 13,200 seats this year. The committee, headed by G D Yadav, vice-chancellor, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Matunga, stated that the spurt in intake was because ''new institutes were added and variations in intake capacity of existing institutes were permitted''. In this period, the number of students increased at a slower pace, not proportionate to the increase in intake, affecting demand-supply adversely, the report stated. In 2013-14, the number of students applying had reduced. Therefore, new institutes or upward revision of intake was not required, it said. Yadav said, "There was no need to increase capacity as there were no jobs in the market. The government brought down eligibility criteria for engineering admissions to fill more seats. Shortage of quality teachers added to substandard engineering education being offered in the state." The report stated that the substantial increase in vacancies across disciplines was coincidentally in the same period when AICTE started processing online applications for starting institutes, because of which individuals or societies without any background or credibility got easy approval on the basis of affidavits.AICTE chairman S S Mantha said the online process made the system more transparent and progressive. "If an institute offers poor quality education, it will have to shut shop." He said the nation's demographics were changing and by 2020, half the population will be below 30. "More institutes and infrastructure will be needed and one cannot start building infrastructure then. In three to four years, there will be more students, but fewer institutes to accommodate them," Mantha said. The state government is yet to act on the report. The joint director of the directorate of technical education, Dayanand Meshram said, "Mushrooming of institutes can be allowed with proper checks on quality." He said the slowdown was temporary.
Related Keywords :
Maharashtra Technical Institutes Electrical Engineering