Every year, thousands of seats are falling vacant at the end of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) in the State. This worrying trend may continue this year as well if the number of application forms sold is an indication.
On Tuesday, the last day for issue of forms, the university registered a sale of 2,11,759 forms as against over 2.35 lakh forms sold last year. Despite extension of sale by a week, Anna University has sold about 24,000 forms less than last year.
Last year, nearly 38 per cent of seats fell vacant in the 500-odd engineering colleges affiliated to the university. “More than 70,000 seats remained unclaimed under government quota. If we include the management seats, it was over one lakh,” a higher education official said. About four years ago, about 50,000 engineering seats fell vacant. And this number has only climbed up.
Lack of infrastructure, poor pass percentage and dismal placement record in many of the engineering colleges started in the recent past, especially in rural areas, are some of the reasons, according to analysts.
Another theory is that the interest in engineering courses is waning as pure science courses are making a comeback.
A senior professor in a leading city-based private engineering college says there is a growing interest among students for pure science courses in the past five years or so. The relatively lower cost of graduating in science could also be a factor, he adds.
Meanwhile, authorities in deemed universities, where the cost of education is much higher, maintain that there is no dip in the number of aspirants seeking admission. Faculty of few leading deemed universities attribute it to effective marketing strategies and better placement prospects.
“Deemed universities are not cash-strapped when it comes to advertising or canvassing for students. Some of the lower placed colleges affiliated to Anna University are less known than the recently launched deemed universities,” said a professor in a deemed university.
The professor’s observation is borne out by the behaviour of a student who, hailing from a western Indian State, opted for management seat in Mechatronics at a deemed university in the city. The student said, “I had heard that the course offered by the institution is excellent. I was worried I might not get a seat if I waited until the class XII results were out, so I opted for a management seat.” The student was not aware that some colleges affiliated to Anna University also offer the course.
