CHENNAI: In a move that could bring more students to top engineering colleges at the cost of mid-tier ones, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) proposes to remove the cap on seats for individual branches from 2024-25.
At present, a college can have a maximum of 240 seats in one branch. The upper limit was introduced following a mismatch between demand and supply.
“As envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and the nation's proactive initiatives towards enhancement of Gross Enrolment Ratio, the council proposes to remove the upper limit on intake allowed for colleges/programmes offered by existing institutions,” AICTE said in its draft approval process handbook.
The council mentioned that this was subject to infrastructure availability and occupied faculty positions. Expert committees will make inspections before granting approval for an increase in intake.
An increase in seats will be allowed only if the institution already offers at least three courses in core branches.
Top engineering colleges welcomed the proposal. “Colleges providing quality education may be able to increase their intake and expand their campuses by this move. It will also help improve the quality of education,” said Abhay Meganathan, vice-chairman of the Rajalakshmi Group of Institutions. He pointed out that colleges in the US had an average student strength of 30,000 to 40,000, while the corresponding numbers in India were much smaller.
Some are worried that the move would affect admissions in mid-level colleges that provide quality education. "We will wait for the final approval process handbook, although there is a likelihood that the proposed move will increase the gap between the top colleges and mid-tier ones. They may not be able to provide quality education if admission dips," said B Chidambararajan, director of SRM Valliammai Engineering College.
Anna University vice-chancellor R Velraj said the move would accelerate the end of sub-par engineering colleges. As of now, Tamil Nadu has a sanctioned strength of 2.6 lakh seats in 440 engineering colleges.
Source: The Times of India dated 27 November 2023
