Over 1 Lakh Engineering Seats Removed in Last Five Years
- For the academic session 2018-19, UG and PG engineering seats in the country have been reduced from 16.62 lakh to 14.9 lakh.
- This is the sharpest dip in the last five years and experts say that this is the result of lack of demand.
In the last five years, the intake of engineering courses across the country witnessed a sharp dip. As per the latest data of AICTE, the number of B.Tech and M.Tech seats in India has been reduced from 16.62 lakh to 14.9 lakh, which means 1.67 lakh seats have been dropped during the academic session 2018-19.
Around 755 engineering colleges approached AICTE seeking the reduction in the intake of courses or complete closure of some engineering branches. These colleges have come forward to surrender 92,553 seats due to minimal demand from students. On the other hand, AICTE decided to reduce an additional 24,290 seats as AICTE approved winding up of 83 engineering colleges across the country. Apart from these, AICTE has penalised 53 engineering colleges by withdrawing their approval or forbidding fresh admissions this year.
Also Read: AICTE: 101 Management Institutes Apply for Shutdown due to Poor Intake
Stating the reason for the cut in engineering seats, AICTE mentioned that poor admission rate in many engineering colleges is the major reason. The intake of engineering courses has been declining since 2014. During the academic session 2016-17, there were no takers for 51% engineering sears out of 15.5 lakh. A total of 3,291 engineering colleges struggled to fill the seats in 2016, pointed by AICTE.
Also Read: AICTE to Introduce Open-Book Exams
Poor infrastructure, lack of quality education and qualified faculty are some other reasons for the intake drop in many engineering colleges. In many cases, colleges do not have required labs to impart practical training to students. All these reasons forced AICTE to shut down close to 800 engineering colleges across the country.