Engineering colleges in the district are planning to adopt various methods to attract students in the academic year 2016-17.
According to sources, the colleges will organise education fairs for parents and students who completed Intermediate course this year.
A few colleges have also appointed public relations officers to gain the attention of the students, parents, and heads of Intermediate colleges. Each PRO is promised up to Rs.10,000 per each admission. Their job is to approach parents, heads of various colleges and hostels to create awareness on the respective colleges. The managements of engineering colleges are also planning to undertake a campaign at the centres where the students give their web option for the final selection of the college.
College managements are offering fee reimbursement and concession in hostel fee in their bid to attract students.
All these methods have become necessary with the drop in demand for engineering education.
Many parents are also apprehensive about the future of their children as the colleges are unable to provide campus placements.
Another problem that is staring at students is the preference being given by top companies to students of reputed engineering colleges and private universities located in cities like Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.
Despite sincere efforts to arrange campus interviews, the response from top companies has been discouraging so far. After the division of the State, many IT companies located in Hyderabad are preferring to recruit students of Telangana instead of Andhra Pradesh.
In this background, the colleges in the district are leaving no stone unturned to get more admissions which is necessary for their survival.
Except two colleges in the districts, others could not get even 50 per cent admissions in the years 2014 and 2015.
However, increase in the number of applications for EAMCET this year offers the colleges a ray of hope.
In all, 5,918 students applied for EAMCET-2016. A few more may apply in the next two weeks with a late fee.
“Around 900 more candidates have applied for EAMCET this year. It is good news for us. We hope a majority of the students will opt for local colleges as the fee is relatively less in the district,” says a representative of an engineering college.
Last year, many candidates joined private universities though they attended for EAMCET in Srikakulam.
“The colleges in Srikakulam are unable to ensure good faculty for many subjects. There is no focus on improving communication skills of students. These are the reasons for parents opting for colleges in Visakhapatnam and other cities,” says J. Chandrasekhara Rao, a parent from Rajam.
The colleges, however, claim that they are able to maintain highest standards in spite of all the difficulties.
“We are able to get admissions from other States also by highlighting the plus points. Tough competition will make us improve standards every year. We hope to get 100 per cent admissions this year,” says a representative of an engineering college.
