Admissions to 300 BTech colleges likely to be stalled

HYDERABAD:  The fate of engineering colleges with less than 30 per cent enrollment over the past five years across the country looks bleak. AICTE is likely to instruct 300 such colleges to stall admission process for the 2018-19 academic session. Closer home 21 engineering colleges across the state, affiliated to the JNTU, have been shut down this year under the progressive closure. These colleges cannot take new admissions but will continue the existing courses. Several more are likely to follow the suit before the new academic session begins. JNTU officials, however, could not confirm the number but admitted that closure is bound to happen. The varsity is awaiting an official communique from the technical education body.  

  
Department of Technical Education, Telangana says the closure is imminent for institutions that have low enrollment numbers.”The primary reason for this is that the number of seats is more than their demand,” said Srinivas, an official. According to AICTE annually close to 150 colleges have sought progressive closure. Between 2014-15 to 2016-17, 410 BTech colleges have closed down across the country. This year, Telangana saw 64 cases of progressive closure while pan India the number stood at 65.  

While AICTE had earlier stated that shutting down underperforming colleges is one alternative, those on the borderline would also have the option of becoming degree colleges of polytechnics. 
Dr N Yadaiah, registrar of JNTU said, conversion would depend on several factors and may or may not work out. 

“Engineering colleges have large infrastructure but are located mostly on the city outskirts or suburbs. Will students travel such distances, spend so much time and money to get BSc or BA degrees when the same is available in the city?” he said.Quality of teachers is another aspect that has people worried. Sujatha Rao, a teacher from Ellenki Group of Institution, one of the institutions to have opted for progressive closure for its Women’s Engineering College, said that crumbling infrastructure and poor quality of teachers in engineering colleges that have mushroomed all over the state is the reason for the low enrollment rates. 

“After having to close down as BTech colleges because they could not fill up the seats, it will be difficult for these colleges to convince parents that they will provide good education as polytechnics or degree colleges,” she pointed out.  There are 10,361 engineering colleges in the country. Of the 37 lakh engineering seats, over 27 lakh have been lying vacant.