More engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana likely to be shut

Visakhapatnam: More engineering institutions in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are likely to stop operations as the All Indian Council For Technical Education (AICTE) wants to close down 800 colleges across India.

AICTE chairman Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, on last Friday, reportedly told mediapersons in Bengaluru about the council’s plan to close down 800 colleges across India.

The decision could have an impact on institutes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as according to AICTE, AP has 325 colleges, which is the third highest after Tamil Nadu having 526 and Maharashtra 380.

“So far, colleges have not received any notice regarding closure. So, we cannot say how many colleges could be shut down. However, closing the colleges and passing the blame on them would not bring any solution. Rather, accreditation of colleges should be done. The number of seats should be reduced based on the demand. About 18,000-20,000 seats were surrendered voluntarily by some colleges this academic year,” said Gadde Rajaling, a senior member of Federation of Engineering Colleges in AP. The chaos over reimbursement of fees, government failing to generate jobs should also be taken into consideration and merely closing down the colleges is not rational. Closing down colleges might encourage rat race and again brokers, Mr Rajaling said, adding that industry-institution interface needs to focus on increasing employable skills of the students. Only 7-8% students passing out are getting placements, which speaks about poor employment generation.

According to the council rule, colleges that lack proper infra and report less than 30% admissions for five consecutive years will have to be shut down. The institutes either need to go for voluntary closure or asked for progressive closure.