About 50% Engineering Seats Go Vacant in Some States
Around 50% of engineering seats have gone vacant in some states this year. The states of Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Chattisgarh have a similar percentage of vacant engineering seats.
Many engineering colleges of the country have reported a large number of seats being left vacant this year. About 50 percent of the total engineering seats have been left vacant in some states. In Tamil Nadu, out of the total 1,67,652 seats, only 83,396 seats were filled, making up for only 49.74 percent of occupied engineering seats in the state. Similarly, 50 percent of seats have been reported to be vacant in the state of Maharashtra as well.
With 80 percent unoccupied seats, Odisha tops the chart while West Bengal has 60 percent vacant seats in engineering colleges.
Vacant Engineering Seats in the Major Indian States
About 60 percent of the total seats in engineering colleges that come under the quota of COMEDK (the Consortium of Medical, Engineering, and Dental Colleges of Karnataka) have not been filled for the session of 2019-2020. The numbers undoubtedly portray a bleak picture of engineering and its education in the country. However, the Chairman of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), Anil Sahasrabudhe, has said that this is not something new as a massive number of engineering seats have been going vacant since the past five years with only a slight fluctuation every year.
Also Read: Six Engineering Colleges of Karnataka Shut Down in the Last Two Years
Sahasrabudhe has said that this data should not be perceived as a worrisome scenario as it reflects that only those students who have an interest in the field of engineering are opting for the course. He further added that innumerable engineering colleges have mushroomed all over the country, resulting in an increased number of engineering seats. The students, on the other hand, aspire to take admission in quality institutions and those ones not meet the right standards face closure.
Sahasrabudhe also added that most of the seats that go vacant are in the affiliated colleges. Students mostly prefer taking admission in universities because they claim to offer better infrastructure, resources, faculty and have huge intakes. The fee structure of universities is also lower than the tuition fee of such affiliated colleges.
Engineering has been one of the most sought after courses in India since years now. Many changes and alterations have been made in the stream and its education as per the demands of the industry and job market. Nowadays, more emphasis is being laid on new-age technical courses like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML) etc. Students are opting for colleges and institutes that offer the latest course content.