Thiruvananthapuram: Many self-financing engineering colleges in the state have found the going tough for want of students and some have already closed down. More are folding up or switching over to other branches of education. The KVM Engineering College, Cherthala, and Prime Engineering College, Palakkad, have sought the permission of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to shut down. The KMP Engineering College, Muvattupuzha, and Yonous Engineering College, Thalachira, Kollam, want to convert themselves into polytechnics. Technological University Pro-Vice-Chancellor M. Abdul Rahman has confirmed the move of these colleges.
It may be recalled that three colleges were closed down during the last academic year for want of students. They are Aryanet Engineering College, Palakkad, Pankajakasthuri Engineering College, Maranalloor, Thiruvananthapuram, and Pinnacle Engineering College, Kollam. The Travancore Engineering College, Oyyoor, Kollam, had closed down in 2016 for the same reason. The P.A. Aziz Engineering College, Karakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, was shut in 2015 following a directive by the AICTE.
The self-financing engineering colleges are in a crisis for lack of students. There are a total of 152 engineering colleges under the technological university. Of the 56,000 seats, only 30, 200 were filled in the last academic year. In 2016-17, the total intake for BTech across the country was 15,71,220. However, the total enrolment was 7,87,127, which was around 50.1 per cent. It was in this context that the AICTE wanted to close down about 800 engineering colleges that lacked proper infrastructure and had less than 30 per cent admissions for five consecutive years.
