Engineering casualty

Thiruvananthapuram: The future of some of the private self-financing engineering colleges in the state is hanging in the balance because of the low enrolment rates.  Nearly 100 of the 150-odd engineering colleges lack adequate number of students and some of them may be forced to close down throwing the employees out of jobs.  There is also a question mark on the   huge loans taken by these colleges. Mr  Sunil Thomas Thonikuzhiyil, principal of College of Engineering, Attingal,  told Deccan Chronicle that over 100 employees in the Travancore Engineering College, Oyoor,  including faculty,  have lost their jobs following the closure of the  college.   The APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University has allowed the closure of  Pankaja Kasthuri College of Engineering and Technology at  Kandala in Thiruvananthapuram.  The university issued an order on Friday to shift the  BTech students to  other colleges, Mr  Thonikuzhiyil said.

Most of the teachers in these colleges have experience of over 10 to 12 years and they may find it difficult to get new jobs as they are aged above 35 - 40. Each of these colleges has nearly 100 employees. Their closure may mean joblessness for over 10,000 employees. Besides, the employment opportunities generated in allied sectors like hostels and canteens would also be lost,  Mr Thonikuzhiyil said.  The  successive governments have sanctioned  self-financing colleges without making any viability study. The first casualty is the engineering colleges and then come nursing institutions.  Pharmacy and even medical graduates may face an uncertain future.  Many self-financing arts and science colleges which offer traditional courses without job prospects are also in trouble. Mr G. Sanjeev, assistant professor in the NSS engineering college, Palakkad, said that a sum of Rs 30,000 crore was invested in the self-financing sector in the state. Out of it, Rs 15,000-- Rs 18,000 crore is in the engineering college sector and the major portion is bank loan. Many of the colleges are  in the rural areas which have helped the rural economy. 

Mr Vinu Thomas Nanthikattu, professor in Model Engineering College,  Thrikkakara,  said that the private self- engineering colleges are mostly run by trusts and their closure may not hurt them badly.  For example, a  college at Muvattupuzha,  which is facing shutdown, can transfer its infrastructure to a nearby college also run by the same trust which has better admission rates. The buildings can be used for other purposes, Mr Nanthikattu said. But the employees will suffer. Many have taken loans for house and car loans. “One of my students had quit the job of JTO in the BSNL to join a college in better times. He lost his job after the college shut down and has a huge loan liability,” he  said.
  The state which started out with nine colleges with a sanctioned intake of 2,810 has now over 151 colleges with 54,604 seats.  A total of  17,866 seats have remained vacant in self-financing colleges after the third round of allotment this time.   Only 32 private self-financing colleges have more than 40 percent admissions in government quota.  Of them, only 13 have over 60 percent admissions. As many as 11 colleges have  less than five percent admissions after the last round allotment in government quota.   The number of vacant seats has been  increasing every  year.  In 2012, there were 7,686 vacant engineering seats, which increased to  8,481 in 2013 and  12,181 in 2014. In 2015, the number  stood at 16,528 and in 2016 it rose to   17,333.