Engineering education: India
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Engineering education
GEEK TRAGEDY: PLOT WEAKENS
(In the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century), engineering education was booming in the country but now colleges are closing and thousands of seats have no takers. Sunday Times finds out how quality lost out to quantity
Hemali Chhapia | TNN
The Times of India 4 Aug 2013
Rangareddy in Telangana region is just about half the size of Pune. But this district of Andhra Pradesh could well be called India’s engineering headquarters. Its narrow lanes boast of over 500 engineering colleges, the largest concentration of such campuses anywhere in the world.
In the last 15 years, colleges mushroomed here on farmland. And the multiplier effect seen in Rangareddy was witnessed across the country as India came to become an engineernation with its 3,800 campuses that have an annual student intake capacity of 1.7 million. In 1947 there were only 38 engineering institutions with a total of 2,500 seats. 60 years on, in 2007, India’s 1,503 engineering colleges had 5.83 lakh seats on offer. “In 2013, India added a total of 1.3 lakh new seats in various engineering colleges,” says S S Mantha, chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body that monitors the opening and running of professional colleges in the country.
But the glory days may have passed. Reports of vacant seats (80,000 in Tamil Nadu; 70,000 in MP; 50,000 in Maharashtra; and 7,800 in Gujarat), and colleges applying for closure are being seen as signs of interest in the field waning. The mood across campuses is gloomy, as placements have been slow and salaries lower. This is largely a result of the deceleration in the IT industry, which had fuelled the boom, and in manufacturing, which has also registered negative growth. “Capacity that was created in anticipation of demand remained unutilized because the economy failed us,” says National Institute of Technology Rourkela director Sunil Kumar Sarangi.
Students now know that all engineering colleges are not equal. Among the biggest concerns is the quality of teaching staff and curricula updated to industry requirements. Many colleges rely on visiting faculty, and teachers often do not have the prerequisite PhDs. An educationist from Tamil Nadu, who has advertised the sale of his four-year-old college, explains that given the AICTE prerequisites, setting up a college (which includes acquiring a certain amount of land, building labs and a library, acquiring university affiliation and hiring teachers among others) is hugely expensive. So until the college recovers those costs, most educators don’t even think of quality. Reportedly, in a 10-year business plan of establishing an institute, quality improvement comes in the fifth or sixth year.
Mantha admits that AICTE is increasingly receiving applications from colleges wanting to close down, but that is not an indication that the sheen of engineering is dulling. “What is happening is that students from rural regions are moving to the cities where they have a better scope of being placed. Colleges in the interior parts that do not have enough teachers or infrastructure are closing down,” he says, adding, “When an 18-year-old looks at his life three years on, he realizes that the chances of bagging a job are the highest if he or she pursues engineering.”
2013-14: 1.3 lakh engineering seats reduced
The Times of India, Dec 11 2015
Atul Thakur Engg colleges have cut 1.3L seats since 2013-14
When 23 lakh candi dates, including 2.2 lakh engineers, ap plied for 368 posts of peons in Uttar Pradesh recently , the story obviously grabbed headlines. Little wonder that the bleak future of engineering graduates is getting reflected in falling student intake and courses offered by engineering colleges. In the three years be tween 2013-14 and 2015-16, engineering colleges have reduced the number of seats by a staggering 1.3 lakh. The student intake has also declined in the same proportion.
More than 23,000 of these seats were reduced because of shutting down of 71 engineering colleges while another 1,279 colleges decreased the number of courses offered for engineering (diplomaUGPG), the answer to a recent question in Parliament revealed. A state-wise analysis of the reduction of seats shows that erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra accounted for 80,000 of these reduced seats.These states also account for the highest number of engineering colleges.
Between 2012-13 and 201415, the number of approved seats have increased from 16.5 lakh to over 18 lakh. This is despite the fact that there is a steady decline in the number of students actually joining these courses. From 10.1 lakh in 2012-13, the student intake dropped to 9.9 lakh in 2013-14 and 9.1 lakh in 2014-15, a decrease of about a lakh.The data also shows that the student intake has gone down from 61% of approved seats in these colleges to 51% over the three years.
Census data shows that in 2011 there were 121 lakh people who had technical degrees or diploma equal to graduation or post-graduation. Of these, 16 lakh were unemployed and seeking work, while another 3.1 lakh were working as marginal workers.Overall, there were 5.7 lakh marginal workers with technical degrees. Experts attribute this phenomenon to various reasons. Unlike other graduate degrees, engineering is a job oriented course and a sustained slowdown reflects on job opportunities and hence student intake.
The increase in the seats despite a lower intake of students could be linked to the fact that many colleges apply for accreditation for both engineering as well as management courses, they point out.The approval alone doesn't guarantee student enrolment as many of these institutes lack basic infrastructure as well as good teaching staff.
2012-15: 20 Odisha colleges almost empty
The Times of India, Aug 15 2015
Ashok Pradhan
Not even 10 takers for seats in 20 Odisha engg colleges
At the end of the engineering admission process across Odisha, around 20 colleges failed to reach the double digits in student intake raising serious doubts about their future. Around 30,000 of the total 46,000 BTech seats remain vacant. While this has been the trend for the past three years, the situation was never this bad.
Shyam Sundar Patnaik, vice-chancellor of Biju Patnaik University of Technology , to which the engineering colleges are affiliated, said he would review the situation and take a call. “While students' interest can't be compromised, we also have to think of the entrepreneurs who have opened the institutions,“ he said.
The admission to engineer ing colleges is conducted by the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination Committee, an independent body , and BPUT has no role to play in it. Though engineering seats lying vacant is a national phenomenon, especially in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra and Telengana, there are certain specific reasons behind the poor admission record in Odisha.
The Odisha Professional Education Act, 2007, bars engineering colleges in the state from admitting more than 15% students from outside the state. “Maybe when the Act was passed, such a cap on admitting outside state students was appropriate. Personally , I feel, the government should review the Act to accommodate more nonOdisha students against vacant seats,“ the VC said.
Secondly , counselling in Odisha is done after other states and universities. “Within the state also, private and deemed universities conduct their admission way before BPUT,“ said Odisha private engineering college association secretary Binod Dash.
NIT Rourkela director Sunil Sarangi said it was a cause of serious concern. “Running these courses will not be financially viable,“ he added. Sarangi said the government must take steps to strengthen school education and reduce dropout rate.
Employment prospects
2017: 60% graduates are unemployed
Manash Gohain, 60% of engineering grads unemployed, March 18, 2017: The Times of India
More than 60% of the eight lakh engineers graduating from technical institutions across the country every year remain unemployed, according to the All India Council for Technical Education. This is a potential loss of 20 lakh man days annually .
That's not all. Less than 1% of engineering students participate in summer internships and just 15% of engineering programmes offered by over 3,200 institutions are accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). All this points to the huge variation in standards of technical colleges in the country , a majority of which churn out graduates who are not employable.
To buck this trend, the ministry of human resource development is planning a major revamp of India's technical education. The strategy involves rolling out the single National Entrance Examination for Technical Institutions from January 2018, linking annual teacher training as a must for approval of the institution, mandatory induction training of enrolled students and annual revision of curriculum. According to a senior MHRD official, NEETI (for admission to engi neering programmes) will be the first exam to be conducted by the National Testing Service (NTS), which will be completely computerbased. “In all probability , NTS will be ready by January 2018 to conduct the NEETI as well as National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical courses.The exams will be conducted multiple times in a year,“ said the official.
As per plans, the first NEETI exam is likely to be scheduled for December 2017-January 2018, followed by another one in March 2018 and the third on May 2018.
The official added that NTS will also conduct entrance test for IIT. “The paper setting will continue to be with the IITs. Only the conduct of the exams will be NTS's responsibility .“
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), under MHRD, has also set broad targets for raising the standards of technical education, which includes immediate improvement of employability to 60% from the current 40%, and to ensure that 75% of the students get industry exposure in the form of summer internships.
And before 2022, 50% of the programmes in the technical institutions shall be accredited through NBA, and unless there is credible progress annually , institutional approval will be refused. According to the planned initiatives of the AICTE, the selection process will be based on the single entrance test by an agency authorised by MHRD and there will be a ban on conduct of such exams by any other institution or university or agency. The institutions from now on will have to make “suitable changes in the curriculum ev ery year“ and the process shall be completed in the month of December each year ahead of the coming academic year.
AICTE has asked the institutions to prepare an action plan for implementing these initiatives along with financial implications before June 2017.
Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)
2015, ’16: drop in number of applicants
The Times of India, Jan 19 2016
Yogita Rao
Number of JEE (Main) aspirants shrinks by over 1 lakh in a year
The number of engineering aspirants registering for JEE (Main) has declined for the second year in a row. It is down by almost a lakh this year compared to 50,000 last year. CBSE, which conducts the national-level joint entrance examination, received applications from 12.07 lakh aspi rants last week. In 2015, 13.04 lakh students had registered for the test.
The fall is even steeper in Maharashtra, where the registrations are down by a third over last year. The state, however, has the highest number of applicants (1.63 lakh) in the country followed by Uttar Pradesh (1.5 lakh).
JEE (Main) is the qualifying exam for admissions to centrally funded technical institutions such as NITs, IIITs and institutions in participating states. Of the total numbers of students taking JEE (Main), the top 1.5 lakh are eligible to take the JEE (Advanced) for admissions to premier IITs. This year, the IIT council has decided to shortlist two lakh candidates. The number of students taking the JEE (Main) has been falling since last year, but till 2014, the exam used to record a rise in the number of aspirants every year.
Experts attribute the fall to the waning interest in engineering and also to the variety of choices available to students in other professions in the last few years. Vijay Singh, former national co-ordinator for science Olympiads and a Raja Ramanna Fellow, said, “For the last few years, the impression that an engineering degree does not guarantee you a job has percolated down to students.
Engineering seats are going vacant dramatically in private colleges in several states. Unless they get admission in a good college, many are not keen.“ He added that fancy courses such as hotel management, law, design, maritime, on the other hand, are picking up. “Students who are keen on research in science are completing their undergraduate programme in science and are going abroad for higher studies to reputed foreign universities.“ IITBombay director Devang Khakhar agreed that students can pursue various interests.
“There are several options available in humanities too,“ added Khakhar. IIT-Kanpur director Indranil Manna, however, said that a drop by few percentage points is hardly alarming. “Many students who are serious about pursuing engineering and are motivated will definitely appear for the entrance test. But a few, who realize that engineering is not their cup of tea, will prefer to stay out,“ he said.
The drop in aspirants from Maharashtra has contributed largely to the overall drop in registrations. Maharashtra was a participating institute in JEE (Main) till higher and technical education minister, Vinod Tawde, decided to withdraw from the test this year.The state's decision to hold its own common entrance test (MHT-CET) for engineering admissions this year may be one of the important reasons for the drop.
HRD Ministry ranking, 2016
The Times of India, Aug 08, 2016
Six cities in India are set to get new IITs. The Parliament passed a law in this regard. The six cities set to get IITs include Jammu, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharward (Karnataka) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh).
Replying to a debate on the bill, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said that the IITs are the centre of excellence and they will continue to remain like that.
In early 2016, for the first time, HRD ministry released a list that ranks higher education institutions across the country.
The rankings under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) have been divided into four categories: Engineering, management, pharmacy and university.
There were five key parameters on which academic institutes were assessed, these include: Teaching, learning and resources; Research, consulting and collaborative performance; Graduation outcome; Outreach and inclusivity; and Perception.
IIT Madras
IIT Madras tops the list with a weighted score of 89.42. Among the oldest IITs, the institute was established in the year 1959.
IIT Bombay
At No. 2 on the HRD ministry's list is IIT Bombay with a weighted score of 87.67. IIT Bombay too is among the oldest IITs in the country having established in the year 1958.
IIT Kharagpur
Next on the list is IIT Kharagpur. The oldest IIT in the country IIT Kharagpur gets a weightage of 83.91. It was established in the year 1951.
IIT Delhi
With a weightage of 82.03, IIT Delhi is fourth on the premier list. It was established in the year 1961
IIT Kanpur
IIT Kanpur ranks at No. 5 on the list with a weightage of 81.07. The institute was established in the year 1959.
IIT Roorkee
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee ranks at No. 6 on the list with a weightage of 78.68. IIT Roorkee was established in the year 2001.
IIT Hyderabad
Among the newest IIT on the list, IIT Hyderabad ranks at No. 7, with a weightage of 77.23. The IIT Hyderabad was established in the year 2008.
IIT Gandhinagar
At No. 8 on the list is Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar with a weightage of 75.21. IIT Gandhinagar too was established in the year 2008.
IIT Ropar
The newest IIT on the list Indian Institute of Technology Ropar in Punjab ranks at No. 9. The institute which received a weightage of 74.89 was established in the year 2009.
IIT Patna
The No. 10 on HRD ministry's list is Indian Institute of Technology Patna with a weightage of 74.68. The institute too is among relatively new IITs, having being established in the year 2008.
2017
The human resource development (HRD) ministry has released the year 2017 edition of best higher education institutions in the country. Titled, 'India Ranking Report 2017', the rankings are divided across categories including management, universities, colleges, pharmacy and engineering. The rankings, first developed by the MHRD in September 2015, are based on five broad parameters: teaching/learning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcomes; outreach and inclusivity; and perception. Here we bring to you the '25 best engineering colleges in India for the year 2017' from the list.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai
Indian Institute of Technology Madras tops the list with a score of 87.96. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 598. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 10,00,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai
At No. 2 on the list is IIT Bombay with a score of 87.87. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 606. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 90,00,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur (West Bengal)
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, ranks at No. 3 on MHRD's list with a score of 81.93. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 628. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 11,505,03.
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Delhi
With a score of 81.08, the fourth position in the list goes to Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 547. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 12,00,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur (UP)
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, ranks at No. 5 on the list with a score of 76.83. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 447. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 14,70,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand
With a score of 73.10, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is at No. 6 on the list. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 392. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 9,00,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam
At No. 7 on the list is Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 361. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 12,00,000.
Anna University Chennai, Tamil Nadu
With 63.97 score, Chennai's Anna University ranks at No. 8 on the list. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 531. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 4,00,000.
Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal
Jadavpur University of West Bengal ranks at No. 9 with a score of 62.59. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 275. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 5,60,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Telangana
With a score of 60.24, at No. 10 on the list is Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Telangana. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 174. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 7,20,000.
National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu
Next on the list is National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli with a score of 59.44. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 174. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 7,10,000.
National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha
At No. 12th on the list is National Institute of Technology Rourkela with a score of 58.78. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is an impressive 280. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 7,00,000.
Vellore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu's Vellore Institute of Technology ranks at No. 13 with a score of 58.16. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is an impressive 979. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 3,30,000.
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, ranks at No. 14 on the list with a score of 57.97. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 101. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 5,00,000. (Image Courtesy: Wikipedia)
Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Madhya Pradesh, ranks at No. 15 on the list with a score of 57.70. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 99. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 9,00,000.
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Rajasthan
At No. 16 on the list is Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani with a score of 55.43. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 352. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 9,03,000.
Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, West Bengal
At No. 17 on the list is Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology with a score of 54.42. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 194. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 6,00,000. (Image Courtesy: Wikipedia)
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha
With a score of 54.32, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar ranks at No. 18. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 122. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 6,50,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihar
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihar, ranks at No. 19 with a score of 54.02. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 121. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 8,51,500.
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia ranks at No. 20 with a score of 53.70. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 102. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 7,75,000.
Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Punjab
With a score of 52.93, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar ranks at No. 21 on the list with a score of 52.93. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 84. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 8,20,000.
National Institute of Technology Surathkal, Karnataka
National Institute of Technology Surathkal scores 52.87 and ranks at No. 22. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 242. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 7,00,000.
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, Jharkhand
With a score of 52.58 Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad ranks at No. 23. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 242. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 7,50,000.
College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra
College of Engineering, Pune ranks at No. 24 with a score of 52.14. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 114. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 6,50,000.
Shanmugha Arts Science Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Shanmugha Arts Science Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) Thanjavur ranks at No. 25 on the list with a score of 51.44. The No. of faculty members with PhD qualification is 313. The average salary of under-graduate students according to the report in the year 2015-16 was Rs 3,35,000.
