Why Are Engg Graduates Going Jobless? AICTE Chief Explains

AICTE Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe has blamed the mushrooming of technical institutions for the high employment rate among engineering and management graduates in the country.

According to a media report, he said more than 2,500 new technical colleges had come up in the country between the 1990s and 2012. This increased the number of technical institutes in the country from 8,000 to 10,400.

While the number of institutes kept rising, there was no improvement in the quality of education, he added.

The AICTE chairman said half of the seats in the colleges went vacant, while the good ones managed to fill 90-100 per cent of the seats. In hundreds of other institutes, just 10 per cent of seats could be filled up.

Sahasrabudhe, however, added that with the proactive reform measures, the non-performing colleges have begun to shut shops. He said that 8-12 colleges were shutting down on an average annually.

AICTE has also put a ban on opening of new colleges till 2022.

The apex body for technical education has also planned several measures to improve employability as well as brings reforms in the examination system.

Measures to improve employability: 

1. Regular revision of curriculum
2. Faculty development programme in areas like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, robotics, blockchain, cybersecurity, etc.
3. Introduction of new technological courses to boost employment prospects.
3. Involving the industry for course revision in tune with industry requirements.

Examination Reforms:
1. A set of model question paper has been drafted and uploaded on the AICTE website.
2. Workshops being conducted for faculty members.
3. Directives have been issued to the vice-chancellors, deans and examination controllers to adopt the examination reforms.