Plethora of Engineering Colleges in India: A Bane in Disguise?
21st century is an era of rapid scientific and technological development. In this context, the role of technical education in overall societal development cannot be undermined. Specializations and job opportunities in this sector are also vast. Due its vast scope, it is a dream career for a large number of students and hence they are opting for this field.
There are countless numbers of engineering colleges in India. Each year many new institutes are set up and many more are on their way in the years to come. But are all these of any good? What I mean by this is that they are not being able to cater to the demands of India’s ever increasing population. The reason is simple. India still does not have adequate number of Government Engineering colleges and the private ones have a fee structure that is beyond the affordability of the Indian middle class masses. This in turn increases the number of applications for large sums of bank loans.
Thus, even with more and more private institutes coming up every year, the problems of the masses persist. These include insufficiency of skilled teachers, stricter eligibility criteria in the reputed institutes, falling quality of education and finally a serious need for more state sponsored colleges keeping in mind a vast majority of the middle classes instead of a handful of elites.
While the worldwide trend lies is simplifying technical education, India seems to sail against the wind. Entrance exams for B.E/B.Tech require two years preparation which results in gross negligence of the very crucial board exam preparation. Despite this arduous labour, students who do not manage to grab a good rank in the entrance exams are compelled to opt for not so good colleges as most of them do not make it to the government institutes and many cannot afford huge loans.
Moreover the rapidly growing colleges have a questionable standard of education. Infrastructure is not always upto the mark as a result of which the practical applicability is compromised, faculty is not always well trained and research is hardly invested in or encouraged. Thus, merely increasing the number of private colleges is not a solution. Attention should be paid towards the services they provide and quality should be improved.
Also, it is the responsibility of both students and their parents to choose the college wisely as the degree by itself is not enough. It is the knowledge that will be of ultimate aid. You may easily grab a job by showing your degree certificate but if you are a poor performer, will the employers sustain you for long?
Thus, excess of engineering colleges in India is actually a bane in disguise. Even though they are growing in numbers but their standards are questionable and they are not really benefitting the masses.
