For the first time in three years, more seats have been filled under the government quota surrendered to the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) committee.
On Sunday, when the TNEA completed supplementary counselling, 95,069 of the 1,51,871 sanctioned seats had been allotted. This year 440 colleges, including self-financing ones, took part in the counselling. With the AICTE reducing the intake this past four years, the number of vacancies had also fallen. In 2018, after counselling, as many as 1,00,023 of the 1,77,117 seats remained vacant (77,094 seats were allotted). In the subsequent years, though the AICTE continued to reduce intake, there was only a marginal rise in admission numbers.
In 2019, 83,396 seats were filled, and in 2020, only 78,682 were taken.
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Policy changes
After the State government raised the tuition fee two years ago, aspirants steered clear of engineering programmes. The government had also announced the withdrawal of the SC/ST scholarship three years ago. The tide changed this year, after the government introduced the 7.5% reservation for government school students, and assured parents and students that it would absorb their tuition and hostel fees. As many as 7,876 candidates have been allotted seats under this quota.
Though the measures have helped in admissions, some traditional disciplines, such as mechanical, electrical and civil, seem to have lost their allure. Computer science and new branches like data science and artificial intelligence have seen a rush. Educationists say the demand for new branches has prompted lower-rung colleges to introduce a capitation fee.
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Former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University E. Balagurusamy said: “This is only a temporary shift. It does not mean the importance of core branches — mechanical, civil and electrical — have fallen. It is mob psychology. When biotechnology was introduced, there was a rush for it. Candidates began shunning it when graduates could not find employment,” he said.
With the country’s focus on ‘Make in India’, the manufacturing industry will be in demand, he said. “The problem of unemployent is because of the low competence of teachers and students. Low salary leads to poor quality of teachers and candidates,” he said.
The TNEA will release the merit list for B. Arch on Monday, and candidates will have time till Tuesday for redress of grievances.