AICTE BANS NEW ENGINEERING COLLEGES

LUCKNOW: All India Council of Technical Education has decided to put a blanket ban on opening up of new engineering and management colleges across the country from academic session 2013-14. The directive has come after the Council found that the supply is outstripping the demand for engineering and management seats in the country.

Take the case of Uttar Pradesh. In the past five years, the number of engineering institutions has increased by 215. The number of engineering colleges till 2012 stands at 333, which was only 84 in 2005-06. More shocking is the total number of seats filled in these institutions. A total of 25,903 students took admission in various engineering colleges after qualifying the State Entrance Examination (SEE) 2011. However, the total seats offered by the university is 1,15,379.

The condition of the management courses is no better. The total number of management colleges in UP as of now is 421. The figure five years back stood at 139. In 2005-06, UP was home to only 93 management institutions. As per the figures obtained from SEE 2011, merely 4,373 students took admissions in various management colleges as against 32,228 seats. This means roughly 13% students were admitted last year.

In such a situation where the number of seats exceeds far than the number of students, putting a restriction in opening new colleges came as a breather for educationists. Pro vice-chancellor, Gautam Buddh Technical University (GBTU), Prof VK Singh said, "The mushrooming of colleges had to stop. In our state, not more than 20% students are taking admissions. The numbers have declined in the past 3-4 years. AICTE's move will definitely help state like UP in providing better education."

Prof Singh added that technical education in UP is going through a bad phase. "We don't have trained staff and teachers. With no proper infrastructure, we are not able to do justice with the students," he said. True to his words, the new colleges are severely facing shortage of trained faculty and obviously no proper laboratories, and classrooms.

But not all are happy with the decision. SK Shukla, registrar, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad rejected the Council's move. Shukla who has had a close look at the state's technical education in the past years, said, "A blanket ban will not serve the purpose. The restriction should be prudent. This way, areas like Bundelkhand will continue to suffer as there is a dearth of engineering and management colleges."


Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...ical-education