BHUBANESWAR: A significant chunk of engineering seats in Odisha has remained vacant after completion of the BTech counselling for 2024-25 with private colleges and institutions facing yet another year of declining enrollment.
Data from the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) committee that carried out BTech admission to different colleges and institutions for the current academic year reveal that 66 per cent of engineering seats are still vacant after four rounds of counselling. The rate of decline in enrollment is 3.8 per cent more than the previous year during which around 62.80 per cent of seats had remained vacant after four rounds of OJEE counselling.
Of the total 44,484 BTech seats available in nine government and 75 private engineering colleges and institutions in the state, sources said, only 15,342 seats have been filled up while the remaining 29,142 are vacant after the OJEE counselling that concluded on Thursday.
Out of the total 38,758 BTech seats in private engineering colleges, only 10,052 have been filled up. Over 74 per cent BTech seats are vacant in less reputed private engineering colleges. Last year, seat vacancy in private engineering colleges was 68.5 per cent.
Government colleges, on the other hand, have fared well in counselling this year. BTech enrollment in these colleges rose to 92.5 per cent in 2024-25 from 80.4 per cent last year.
A technical education official said BTech seats have remained vacant primarily due to disinterest of students towards traditional engineering courses in the rapidly evolving job market. However, this is also an opportunity to bring new reforms, especially in private institutions, he added. OJEE officials said the vacant seats will now be handed over to private colleges for enrollment at their level. Spot admission will also be carried out for a few hundred seats which have remained vacant in government engineering colleges.