State forms tech edn plan

Proposed changes to be state-specific

In order to improve technical education, the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) has submitted a proposal to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) detailing state-specific needs for the upcoming academic year.

TSCHE has prepared the perspective plan after studying colleges in all districts with regard to the number of admissions, future demand, and the scope of AICTE approved diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses in engineering, pharmacy, architecture, and management.

Fourteen thrust areas were identified and manpower requirement for these must be made available.

It was found that almost 29,000 seats are vacant in engineering colleges. Industry demand for engineering programmes is sluggish, so there is an urgent need to revamp the courses.

The perspective plan suggests introducing courses that cater to the needs of industry and that prepare students for careers in engineering.

Courses like architecture and fine arts have also shown a general decrease in enrolment in the 10 colleges.

There is a gradual shift in demand towards emerging areas such as gaming and simulation which are offered by many private institutions as diploma and certificate courses. Hence, more institutions in this area are not required, stated the report.

While enrolment in MPharm has drastically fallen, there is a marginal increase in BPharm and Pharma D courses. Existing colleges are able to cater to the requirements and there will be no new colleges in the next 2-3 years.

TSCHE has recommended that approvals should not be given for new engineering colleges, except in educationally backward regions and in districts such as Adilabad that do not have adequate number of colleges. Adilabad has only one engineering college whereas Ranga Reddy district has 122.

The report says it is important to focus on the quality of existing institutions by investing in teacher training, testing and experimentation and infrastructure. More thrust should be given to new areas of research and development that are interdisciplinary in nature.

The number of colleges in Hyderabad must be looked at based on the population and, specifically, the student population. - DR SRINI BHUPALAM, V-P, All India Federations of Self-Financing Technical Institutions Industry says only 20% of graduates are employable. How were they employable just a few years ago? It is because of the headcount requirement coming down. G.V.K. REDDY, Educationist