Lack of job opportunities behind fall in engineering admissions: AICTE Chairman

Bhubaneswar: Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education  (AICTE) Anil Sahasrabudhe, while attending an event in Bhubaneswar today, said lack of job opportunities is responsible for the fall in admissions into engineering courses.

Talking to OTV Sahasrabudhe said, “As the large scale industries, especially the multinationals, are not increasing the jobs rather decreasing, a student gets disheartened without a job offer after completing four years of education.”

The second problem which is not apparent is that a number of private and deemed universities have come up that are also providing engineering courses. So it is not that the number of admissions have decreased but most of the students have diverted to these universities instead of taking admission in affiliated colleges.

Mentioning that outdated syllabus is another factor due to which the students are not job ready, Sahasrabudhe  said, “AICTE has called in professors of IITs and industry experts to prepare a model curriculum and if the colleges follow it, the employability quotient of the students will improve.”

Internship for two years has been made mandatory for the students that will be held in their third and fourth years of study. Besides, communication skills will be provided to the students, he added.

Also read: AICTE to shut down technical colleges with less than 30% admissions

“Alternative is being thought about the colleges that have recorded less than 30 percent admissions in the last five years. If they start skill development courses or different trusts come together and jointly operate, the problem may be solved. But if there are less students then it is financially not viable,” said Sahasrabudhe.