There are more than 3300 engineering colleges in India and the total number of seats in these colleges are around 14.7 lakh. But do you know these colleges pump out a large number of unemployed engineering graduates every year.
According to a report by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), of 8 lakh engineers graduating every year, nearly 5 lakh or 60 per cent remain unemployed.
Also, just 15 per cent of 3200 engineering institutions have been accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), the Times of India reported.
Besides, the percentage of engineering students who participate in summer internships is less than 1 per cent, the report said.
The TOI report mentioned that the Ministry of Human Resource Development has taken the report very seriously and it has now planned a major revamp of country’s technical education to buck this trend.
This includes rolling out the introduction of the National Entrance Examination for Technical Institutions (NEETI) from January next year, linking annual teacher training as a must for approval of the institution, mandatory induction training to enrolled students and annual revision of curriculum.
The report, while citing a senior MHRD official, said that the NEETI for admission to engineering programmes will be the first exam to be conducted by the National Testing Service (NTS), which will be completely computer-based.
The exams have been scheduled for December 2017-January 2018, March 2018 and May 2018. The official added that NTS will also conduct entrance test for IIT.
The paper setting will continue to be with the IITs. Only the conduct of the exams will be NTS's responsibility, it said.
The AICTE is also working to raise the standards of technical education, including the improvement of employability and industry exposure through internships for at least 75 per cent of the students.
The NBA aims to accredit at least 50 per cent of the institutions before 2022 with compulsion of annual credible progress.
