179 professional colleges wind up

nNEW DELHI: At least 179 professional colleges, including engineering colleges and business schools, shut down in India in academic year 2020-21, amid a tough employment environment, falling demand, and restrictions on the mobility of students because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The number of closures is the highest in nine years and is double the number reported the previous academic year, according to data released by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Monday. Other than closures, 134 more institutions did not seek approval for fresh batches in 2020, highlighting the disruption in the higher education sector.

“There are multiple challenges in the education sector this year. The job environment is tough, the pandemic has restricted mobility and the incomes of students’ families have gone down, delaying their fee-paying capability,” said Chocko Valliappa, chief executive of Vee Technologies and vice-chairman of Sona College of Engineering, a leading private institution in Tamil Nadu.

AICTE said 762 institutions reduced intake because of course closure or division closure, affecting almost 70,000 seats in these technical schools.

Put together, because of the closure of entire institutions, closure of departments, not seeking approvals, and punitive action by the regulator against some 44 institutions, the number of technical education seats came down by almost 153,932.

As many as 92 institutions were closed in 2019, compared with 89 in 2018, according to AICTE data.

“Professional education providers and their promoters are worried and look ahead with apprehension. While some have closed down, some are closing sections and departments where the demand is low. In such a situation, the education sector did not get any stimulus support from the government but authorities put regulatory restrictions about not insisting on demanding full fees from students immediately because of the pandemic,” Valliappa said.

A professional education providers’ association in Tamil Nadu has requested the Prime Ministers’ Office to provide financial aid of ₹50,000 crore for higher education institutions as a relief measure during the ongoing pandemic.

“Regulatory requirements need institutions to pay full salary, not demand fees and create new digital infrastructure so that virtual education can be provided when physical campuses cannot open because of the pandemic. So, it’s an expense year and very little support for getting running capital. While some institutions, especially the better ones, can manage the situation, a lot of tier two and tier three town institutions cannot afford to run like this,” said the promoter of another institution in Delhi-ncr, who did not wish to be named.

However, the silver lining is that 164 new institutions got AICTE approval, while 1,300 institutions sought approval for increasing intake by a total of 140,000 seats. AICTE regulates at least 9,691 technical institutes, including engineering and business schools.

India is going through a tough employment environment and the formal sector is facing a huge pressure amid the covid-19 lockdown and the economic downturn.

Businesses in the formal sector have been shedding jobs or cutting salaries.