Only 10 new engineering colleges to open this year

Times of India: Chennai: Tuesday, April 01, 2014.

Ahead of the admission season there are strong indications that there will be fewer new engineering colleges and a possible reduction in seats in Tamil Nadu.

Anna University has received few inquiries for starting new colleges. Sources said so far only six colleges have inquired about the approval process, of which four or five colleges are those that applied last year and who did not get the approval because they lacked some requirement. With the deadline for finalising the new colleges that will start admissions in 2014-15 set for May 15, only around 10 colleges have shown interest.

An RTI application filed by TOI has revealed that one self-financing engineering college has applied for closure in the current academic year.

This year, college managements would have to send their applications to the university for approval and affiliation, after the University Grants Commission took charge of technical institutions. Educational consultants said this was one of the reasons for the poor turnout. Confusion over whether AICTE or UGC would approve the new colleges has delayed the approval process. "The new regulations have still not been notified in the gazette, so college managements were apprehensive that the colleges may not be approved in time for the admission season," said educational consultant Moorthy Selvakumaran. Another reason is the thousands of seats that have gone vacant each year.

The reduction in seat intake or closure of engineering colleges that are not able to keep their head above water is not a bad thing for students, said former Anna University vice-chancellor E Balaguruswamy. "It is consolidation time. At least 100 engineering colleges are for sale. Who will dare to start a new college in this scenario?" he said. "The government and university should evaluate the status of the engineering colleges and weed out poor performers," he added.

Just because the college management has invested in a building, the government need not look into the interest of the college. "The future of so many students, particularly from rural India, will get spoilt if they enroll in these colleges, which have poor infrastructure and faculty because it can't afford quality resources," professor Balaguruswamy said.

There are close to 3 lakh engineering seats in TN. Each year more than eight lakh students pass out of school. Engineering seats have continued to go vacant over the last few years.