BENGALURU: Over 30 private engineering colleges in the state have failed to attract a single student for the undergraduate engineering courses offered during the current academic year under Consortium of Medical Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK).
The process of admission to undergraduate engineering courses for the 2018-19 academic year has been concluded recently both by Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) and COMEDK. The data available from COMEDK shows that at least 62% of the total seats under COMEDK quota have been unfilled. Total seats available under COMEDK quota this year were 16,236, of which 10,175 seats remained vacant.
While many colleges failed to attract even a single student, some ended up with single digit admissions.
Post-admission data available from COMEDK shows that 33 colleges could not find a single student and 33 others got admissions in single digit. Only six colleges managed to fill 100% seats, while 10 others got 80 to 99% of seats filled.
According to COMEDK authorities and college managements, the trend of declining engineering admissions is not new. “This has been observed from the last eight years,” said Dr S Kumar, executive secretary, COMEDK. The condition of the colleges is mainly to blame for the changing trend. “Students are smart these days, and they don’t get fooled by advertisements and tall claims. It is time for engineering colleges in the state to rebuilt infrastructure and provide quality education,” said an official of COMEDK.
Six colleges, which got 100 % admissions, share 1,349 seats among them and are among the top colleges in the state. Of the six, four are in Bengaluru and two in Mysuru.
Less demand for Civil, Mechanical branches
Computer Science stream, which was not in demand for the last three-four years, has again sidelined courses like Mechanical and Civil on the popularity list. “This year, Computer Science seats got filled fast in comparison to previous years. The demand for Civil and Mechanical streams has gone down,” said a COMEDK official.
Meanwhile, COMEDK is asking all its member institutions to get the accreditation done by a private agency. According to officials, it will help colleges to know their drawbacks and areas in which they need to improve.
“The private accreditation company will charge `5 lakh per institute, and COMEDK is ready to pay 80% of the amount,” said a COMEDK official.
KEA too failed to fill 21,000 seats
Not just COMEDK, over 21,000 engineering seats of the total 64,000 seats available via KEA counselling have also been left unfilled this academic year. This is over 2,000 seats more in comparison to the previous year.