WITH interest in engineering education waning, more technical institutions from Tamil Nadu have opted for reduction in intake or closure this year. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has permitted reduction of intake in 139 engineering institutions in TN, leading to a drop of 15,981 seats compared to last year.
Apart from this, the apex regulatory body for technical education in the country has also allowed closure of 12 engineering institutions in the State. This will bring the number of seats down by another 3,252 seats. Three MBA institutions and six MCA institutions were also permitted to wind up their operations in the State, the AICTE said.
The AICTE has also withdrawn its approval for nine engineering colleges in the State and put them under the no admission category. This will further reduce the total number of undergraduate seats available in Tamil Nadu by another 2,542 seats. Two management institutions and nine MCA institutions were also put under no admission category, according to AICTE data accessed by Express. On the other hand, only two new institutions with an intake of 258 seats were allowed in Tamil Nadu this year, apart from an increase in intake at 42 existing institutions by 4,145 seats. Three new MBA institutions and four new MCA institutions were permitted.
At the national level too, the AICTE has approved closure of 83 institutions with 23,930 UG and postgraduate seats and withdrawn approval for another 53 institutions, which had an intake of 17,907 UG and PG seats. Apart from this, 755 institutions were approved to reduce intake by way of closure of courses or reduction in intake which has reduced the intake by 92,553 seats.
In addition to this, 87 engineering colleges have not applied for approval this year which has also reduced the intake by another 22,688 seats. All put together, the total number of engineering seats available in the country has dropped by a whopping 1.57 lakh seats this year.
