CHENNAI: Many colleges in the State are closing down Master in Engineering (ME) seats owing to the declining popularity of the course. In 2022-23 academic year, at least 16 colleges affiliated with Anna University (AU) have requested the latter to close their ME seats in different streams. Last academic year, 85% of ME and MTech seats in AU and affiliated colleges remained vacant.
According to AU data, of the 16 colleges, five applied for closure of ME seats in power electronics and drives, two applied for closure of the seats in power system engineering, four applied for closure of the seats in applied electronics, and five sought closure of the seats computer science engineering. “These courses have become obsolete,” said K Senthil, retired principal of a government engineering college. AU officials said these colleges would be allowed to close the seats (204 in total).
Notably, a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in computer science engineering remain in demand. “After BE in computer science engineering, most students land jobs. So they don’t pursue ME,” said Sashidharan K, principal of a college.
Currently, there are 10,000 ME seats available. This academic year, however, only 3,073 candidates applied for the course but just 1,659 got admission. The scenario was slightly better in 2020 when 3,770 candidates applied and 2,106 got in, AU data showed.
Meanwhile, demand for Master of Computer Application (MCA) is witnessing an uptick and at least four colleges have been granted permission to open MCA courses. With this, available MCA seats will be increased by 330.