CHENNAI: As many as 28 technical institutions including 12 engineering colleges, seven MCA and three MBA stand-alone colleges and six polytechnic colleges have applied for closure to the All India Council for Technical Education from next academic year (2018-19), according to sources. The number of engineering colleges applying for closure has increased from 5 to 12 this year.
“Huge number of vacant seats in engineering courses has prompted these colleges to opt for closure. It has become impossible for them to survive,” a professor said. The council has received a maximum of 15 applications to start pharmacy colleges. This year four MBA and four MCA stand-alone colleges, two Post-Graduated Diploma in Management institutions, two Architecture colleges also have sought permission to start the colleges. In a desperate attempt to revive the institutions, over a dozen engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu have sought permission to start new arts and science colleges and pharmacy colleges at the vacant buildings and lands within their campuses.
Of 65 applications received by the Directorate of Collegiate Education to start new arts and science colleges in the next academic year, around 10 applications are from the existing engineering colleges. Likewise, among the 15 applications received by the All India Council for Technical Education to start pharmacy colleges, three applications were received from the existing colleges. “AICTE has given permission for the establishment of other institutions, technical or non-technical in the existing space. Using the opportunity they wanted to start new institutions,” an official from AICTE said.
In the approval handbook for 2018-19, the AICTE has reduced the minimum land requirement to just the built-up area in mega and metro cities like Chennai. The land requirement in the urban and rural area was also reduced to 2.5 acres and 7.5 acres during the previous years. “Buildings and vacant space in the engineering colleges are largely laying unused in many colleges due to the poor enrollment in the last few years.
“The relaxation of rules by AICTE has allowed us to start new colleges on our campus. There is a good demand for pharmacy courses now. So, we would like to start a pharmacy college within our campus,” a staff from an engineering college in Coimbatore region told this paper. The representatives of engineering colleges crowded the regional AICTE office in Chennai during the process of applications on Monday and Tuesday. Tamil Nadu has 51 pharmacy colleges. Owing to the demand 15 colleges applied to AICTE to start new pharmacy colleges in the state.
Another representative from the same region said, “The herd mentality of students and college managements might kill the demand existing for pharmacy courses as the opportunities are limited. The technical council should also fix a cap on the number graduates coming out from a particular stream.”
