Hyderabad, Nov 02 : A.P. has 721 engg. colleges with 12.73 p.c. employment, while Jharkhand has 17 colleges with 39.63 p.c. employment. Just 12.73 per cent of engineering students of the State get employed in IT services and 1.24 per cent in the IT product services compared to 39.63 per cent and 14.32 per cent respectively in a ‘backward’ state like Jharkhand.

Andhra Pradesh has 721 engineering colleges while Jharkhand has just 17 colleges. The figures might look startling but the states with large number of colleges suffer with low employable quality of candidates while small states with very few engineering colleges produce better engineers, according to a study by Aspiring Minds, a leading employability measurement company.

The research assumes importance in the wake of all the States asking the AICTE not to permit more engineering colleges. Bigger states like Tamil Nadu and Maharasthra face a similar problem. In Tamil Nadu employability in IT services is just 8.33 per cent for its 595 colleges and in Maharashtra it is 14.28 per cent for its 469 colleges.

In comparison Delhi has 35 colleges while 39.76 per cent of candidates are employable in IT services while Himachal Pradesh has 21 colleges with 39.88 per cent candidates employable. The research is based on employability scores of over three lakh students. Tamil Nadu with more than 550 engineering schools has only one in every 12 engineers employable for an IT services company, while states like Rajasthan and Punjab with colleges between 100 and 200 have one in every five engineers employable.

In Bihar and Jharkhand one in every three engineers are employable and they have only 35 colleges. The study concludes that candidates with no bent of mind for engineering studies are joining just because of the availability of seats thus lowering the value of engineers.

“These findings clearly point out that opening more number of colleges is not the solution but improving skills. In fact, more colleges are creating a higher percent of unemployable engineers leading to social risks of frustration among ‘qualified’ engineers,” feels Himanshu Aggarwal, Co-Founder and Director of Aspiring Minds. “Research last year had pointed out that only four per cent engineers are employable in IT product and 18 per cent in IT services.”

TN with more than 550 engg. colleges has one in every 12 engineers employable in IT services. Rajasthan, Punjab with colleges between 100 and 200 have one in every 5 engineers employable

Source : The Hindu

Even as they are preparing to issue a notification for admissions in to M.Tech and other PG courses in November first week, the Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education officials are concerned over filling up all M.Tech seats.

The decision of All India Council for Technical Education to give permission to 145 new engineering colleges to offer M.Tech from the current academic year despite vacant seats last year has made officials opine that after the EAMCET and ICET, where huge number of seats remained vacant, the same fate might befall M.Tech seats. 364 colleges including 14 university colleges at present offer M.Tech courses.

Many colleges found it difficult to fill 100 per cent seats last year. There were 24,000 seats available and with the new approvals, the number has risen to 32,000.

The lack of interest from engineering graduates to apply for M.Tech seats can be attributed to the fact that most companies during recruitment did not give preference to M.Tech students over engineering graduates.

“What is the meaning in pursuing a PG course spending two valuable years when it gives no benefit over graduation,” S Narendar, a B.Tech graduate said.

In addition, most software companies were preferring graduates as they are younger.

The companies were of the opinion that younger people might continue for a few more years at the beginning of their career.Most candidates pursuing graduation intend to take up teaching due to huge number of engineering colleges in the state.

But they were reluctant to seek admission in M.Tech courses, as most engineering colleges are not following AICTE norms in paying salaries to faculty.

Some M.Tech graduates are being paid a mere `12,000 per month, though the AICTE norms says the salary should be more than `20,000.

Hence, engineering graduates are more likely to take up jobs in software companies after completing their B.Tech/BE and then taking up teaching as a profession.

However, students admitted pursuing M.Tech in IITs, NITs and other national level institutions after qualifying the GATE exam had better job prospects.

Source : The New Indian Express