CHENNAI: About 85 per cent of ME and MTech seats at Anna University and its affiliated colleges are vacant this academic year. This is a new low for the Masters courses, which have been losing popularity over the last four to five years, said varsity officials.
While 10,000 seats are available, only 3,073 candidates applied, and just 1,659 got admission this academic year, as per data from the university. The scenario was slightly better in 2020, when 3,770 students applied for the 10,000 seats, and 2,106 got admission. Before the onset of Covid, in 2019, the varsity attracted 6,233 applications for the programmes, and 3,852 students enrolled.
“BE/BTech students are not keen on pursuing Masters degrees as they get job offers immediately after graduating since the IT job market is good now. It’s mainly those who aim to take up teaching or research who are interested in ME/MTech programmes. But teaching opportunities in the State have stagnated,” said Anna University vice-chancellor R Velraj.
He added that there was a delay in admission to Masters courses this year due to the pandemic, which could be another reason for the low enrolment rate. The admission process for Masters courses for 2021-22 ended only this January.
‘Concerns over pay, scope for research keep students at bay’
“Privat rivatrivate engineering colleges aren’t paying faculty well, while in government colleges, teachers are not being recruited regularly. This has deterred students from taking MTech/ME courses. Besides the scope for research at the university is not as good as in national institutes, so the brighter students don’t opt to study here,” said a professor at Anna University.
Private engineering colleges are the worst affected, as some had to end their Masters programmes as they couldn’t attract enough takers. “Running a course for just two or three students is certainly unwise as we have high expenses to manage too. In many colleges, only a few mechanical and civil engineering students are opting for Masters courses, after they fail to find suitable jobs,” said TD Eswaramoorthy, joint secretary, Consortium of Self-Financing Professional, Arts and Science Colleges.
Academicians are worried about the diminishing popularity of ME/MTech programmes as they feel it would severely affect research programmes at Anna university. “Undergraduate programmes are only considered as a gateway to higher education, and for deeper understanding of specialised subjects, to promote quality research, they need to study Masters,” said Balagurusamy, former V-C of Anna University.
He added the government and the AICTE should take steps to popularise MTech courses by offering a students a good stipend. “The AICTE and State government should chalk out a comprehensive policy to promote Masters courses,” added Balagurusamy.