A whopping 800 engineering colleges to shut down next year
What's the story
The AICTE is planning to shut down 800 engineering colleges due to plunging admission rates in these institutions, Chairman Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe said.
According to rules, colleges that register less than 30% admission annually for five consecutive years and those that lack proper infrastructure have to be closed.
Every year, about 150 colleges stop operations voluntarily for failing AICTE rules.
Status
The supply of engineering seats is much more than demand
Right now, supply of engineering seats has far exceeded the demand. In 2017-18, over 2L seats remain vacant across India, 29,000 in Karnataka alone.
Since 2014, AICTE has ordered the 'progressive closure' of 410 colleges. The maximum are in Telangana, UP, Maharashtra, AP, Rajasthan, TN, Haryana, Gujarat and MP.
Often, colleges functioning dismally themselves seek permission for closure or to change into polytechnics/science/arts colleges.
Possibilities
So what are the options for these colleges?
To assist colleges in the transition, they have been asked to decide whether they will close or merge with another college from 2018-19.
"We have also reduced the penalty for closing down an engineering institution that was a deterrent for many colleges which were willing to shut," Sahasrabudhe said.
Many have requested another year to improve performance, but as of now, they are struggling.
Information
What will happen to the students?
For those that will be shut, students can be shifted to nearby colleges that have adequate admission strength as well as proper infrastructure, Sahasrabudhe said. He added the decision had been taken after several deliberations. The 800 colleges haven't been named publicly though.
Action
What's the AICTE doing to improve things?
Sahasrabudhe has advised colleges to review syllabus regularly: outdated curriculum is reportedly the major cause behind falling admissions.
AICTE has also introduced six-month compulsory training for new teachers as "most engineering college lecturers are MTech or PhD holders (without any teaching experience)". Existing teachers can undergo the training in three years.
To make students industry-ready, internship has been made mandatory for second- and third-years.