Demand for engineering education falling

As many as 12,264 seats are left vacant in 201 colleges out of the 66,847 available

There has been a fall in demand for engineering courses in the state due to fewer jobs available in the industry for engineering aspirants.

Students are more interested in other courses, says Engineering College Association president. After the final phase of seat allotment in the web counseling 12,264 seats are left vacant in 201 engineering colleges out of the 66,847 available in convenor quota.

The graph of drop-outs in engineering colleges have increased due to the lack of employment opportunities as expected. Only a few noted engineering colleges are provide placements though not all placements are relevant to the engineering core subjects, according to engineering pass outs.

Goutham Rao, president, Engineering College Associations, said, “Students think that there is no future for engineering courses that is why the demand has fallen.

He adds, “They are looking for courses like law, management and BSc agriculture as they have also agricultural engineering courses. But there is still time for second phase of counselling and students and parents can still look for courses which have better career scope.”

Dr K. Ramdas, vice-president for Telangana Professional Colleges Managements Association, said, “From 2000 till 2014, an average of 2 lakh engineering students would pass out. After bifurcation around 1.5 lakh students pass out every year but only 30% candidates get employed, so the employment situation for engineering students is really bad. The state government has closed many engineering colleges due to lack of staff, infrastructure and quality.”

Professor G.V.K. Reddy from an engineering college said, “The main reason for the decline is that IT/ITES companies have matured and are operating with lean margins and software development technologies are changing rapidly. Due to automation, entry level recruitments are falling and will continue to fall.”

He adds, ‘’Many students who pursue engineering, tend to go to USA for higher studies and eventual seek employment. Since two years getting a student visa has become extremely difficult. Also, enforcement by US immigration has gotten rigorous and many students were deported either for dubious documentation and violating student visa conditions.

STUDENTS OPT for other courses including law, management and agriculture.

MAIN REASON for falling interest is that IT/ITES companies are operating with lean margins.