Hyderabad: In order to improve technical education, the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) has submitted a proposal to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) detailing state-specific needs for the upco-ming academic year.
TSCHE has prepared the perspective plan after studying colleges in all districts with regard to the number of admissions, future demand, and the scope of AICTE approved diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses in engineering, pharmacy, architecture, and management.
Fourteen thrust areas were identified and manpower requirement for these must be made available.
It was found that almost 29,000 seats are vacant in engineering colleges. Industry demand for engineering programmes is sluggish, so there is an urgent need to revamp the courses.
The perspective plan suggests introducing courses that cater to the needs of industry and that prepare students for careers in engineering.
Courses like architecture and fine arts have also shown a general decrease in enrolment in the 10 colleges.
There is a gradual shift in demand towards emerging areas such as gaming and simulation which are offered by many private institutions as diploma and certificate courses. Hen-ce, more institutions in this area are not requi-red, stated the report.
While enrolment in MPharm has drastically fallen, there is a marginal increase in BPharm and Pharma D courses. Existing colleges are able to cater to the requirements and there will be no new colleges in the next 2-3 years.
TSCHE has recommended that approvals should not be given for new engineering colleges, except in educationally backward regions and in districts such as Adilabad that do not have adequate number of colleges. Adilabad has only one engineering college whereas Ranga Reddy district has 122.
The report says it is important to focus on the quality of existing institutions by investing in teacher training, testing and experimentation and infrastructure. More thrust should be given to new areas of research and development that are interdisciplinary in nature.
Experts say reducing seat numbers may hit growth
Experts say that the perspective plan of the Telangana State Council of Higher Education lacks vision and based on the growth rate, no concrete steps have been mentioned to increase enrolment.
Dr Srini Bhupalam, vice-president of the All India Federations of Self-Financing Tech-nical Institutions said, “Technical education must see an increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). However, the statistical information in the report shows that the state has been registering a decline in the last three years, which is troubling and may hinder the state’s growth.”
He said the report incorrectly concluded that Hyderabad, Nalgonda and Ranga Reddy had more technical institutions than other districts. “This must be looked at based on the population, and specifically, the student population.”
He said there does not seem to be need for rigid universal norms for professors, associate professors and assistant professors. “The faculty cadre ratios were originally prescribed for maintaining equilibrium between junior and senior teachers. These should have been modified with the enforcement of new faculty norm.”
Prof. G.V.K. Reddy, an educationist wanted a similar plan for secondary school and junior college. “They all could work in tandem to improve the quality of education,” he said.
As the report noted, many students lack communication and soft skills. It is unfair to expect technical institutions to teach language skills and soft skills, he said.
