CHENNAI : After completion of three rounds of counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA), only three colleges, out of the total 446 in the State, have managed to fill 100% of their seats. Last year, after three rounds of counselling, nine colleges had managed to fill all their seats. Of the 33 colleges that have filled more than 90% seats, 17 are private colleges. While only less than 10% seats have been taken in 173 colleges, 25 colleges couldn’t even fill a single seat after the third round of counselling that ended on Saturday.
The three colleges that achieved 100% admission are Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, PSG Institute of Technology, and School of Architecture and Planning of Anna University. The tepid show has worried TN academicians as boom in IT sector has not led to a tangible improvement in admissions to engineering courses this year. The situation is worse in government colleges.
In Anna University’s premier campus colleges like the College of Engineering-Guindy (CEG) and MIT a few seats are still vacant under ST category. As per data, in six constituent colleges of Anna University, also known as University College of Engineering, and in Annamalai University’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology, even 50% seats have not been taken after three rounds of counselling.
“The constituent colleges of Anna University have infrastructure problems due to which they are failing to attract students. But has been analysing engineering counselling for over a decade. D Nedunchezhian, educationist and career consultant, said government colleges are losing out due to problems in admission process.
“Private colleges are capitalising on the online admission process to lure students to their colleges. I have come across many cases this year where government school student beneficiaries of 7.5% quota got enrolled in private colleges though they are eligible for Anna University seats,” said Nedunchezhian. The State government too is losing money as it is paying the fee for 7.5% quota students, he said.