Former Anna University vice-chancellors M. Anandakrishnan and E. Balagurusamy are of the view that the State would do well to take action in closing down at least 200 engineering colleges, as many of them are unable to attract adequate number of students and perform well in examinations.
With students becoming more aware and exploring other options, colleges that post poor results must voluntarily close down, said both the academics.
“Only a few colleges showed more than 50% results (pass) in the last semester examination conducted by Anna University. Low percentage of pass only means poor infrastructure or poor teaching. Taking this into account, I think there will be a large number of vacancies no matter what,” Mr. Anandakrishnan said about the upcoming single-window counselling for BE/B.Tech courses. Engineering colleges that do not want to shut down should convert to vocational institutes, he added.
Mr. Balagurusamy believes that colleges that post single-digit pass percentage for over five years are a fit case for closure.
‘Money power’
“Political and money power are keeping the colleges open. The University and the Directorate of Technical Education should take care of the interest of the public and not the management,” he said. It was time to get out of the vicious circle of low admissions, poor pass percentage and unemployable youth, he added.
“The university and the DoTE should sit together and address the issue. They could close under- performing colleges and admit students in other institutions with vacancies,” Mr. Balagurusamy suggested.