Most telecom engg courses discontinued
MUMBAI: Electronics and telecommunication branch of engineering, also approved as electronics and communication by some universities, continue to witness highest number of discontinued courses across India.
As per data available with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), apex body for technical education in the country, around 115 electronics and telecommunication courses will no longer be available to students.
These include 40 diploma, 60 degree and 15 post-graduate courses. Last year, 173 courses — 84 degree, 76 diploma and 13 postgraduate — were discontinued.
Electronics and telecommunication engineering comprises designing and manufacturing hardware and software systems that run communication devices such as radio, mobile, television and computer.
Computer engineering and its related branches of engineering have witnessed the second highest discontinuation of courses this year. Nearly 21 diploma, 12 degree and 43 post-graduate computer engineering courses, which includes computer science, engineering and technology, were discontinued for 2018-19 academic year.
Tamil Nadu has witnessed the highest number discontinuations (157) followed by Telangana (123) and Maharashtra (79).
For the past few years, several engineering courses and institutes across India were discontinued as they fail to attract students. Of the 15.5 lakh BE and Btech seats in 3,291 engineering colleges in the country, around 51% went unclaimed in 2016-17.
Experts believe lack of core engineering jobs in telecom and software sectors is to be blamed for dwindling demand and discontinuation of the courses.
A recent report by Jefferies, a Us-based financial services company, Indian telecom revenues fell another 7% quarter-on-quarter (QOQ) and are down 25% from the fourth quarter of 2015-16 levels. The telecom industry revenues are on par with 2012-13 levels, the report said.