Telangana: CSE, AI, Cyber Security courses in high demand in state engineering colleges 

The Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) announced the first phase allotment of engineering admissions, on Sunday, July 16, revealing that 85.80% of the total 70,665 engineering seats have been filled in colleges throughout the state. The majority of seats, 94.20%, were occupied by students pursuing Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), followed by 78.70% in Electronics and Electrical, 44.09% in Civil and Mechanical, and 63.03% in other courses, as per reports by The New Indian Express. 

Students are prioritising CSE and related courses such as Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Science, and Data Analytics, considering the industry demand. To cater to this demand, the state government recently introduced 14,000 additional seats in CSE by reallocating some from the Civil and Mechanical branches, states the report.

While speaking with The New Indian Express, Dr M Manzoor Hussain, a senior professor and Registrar at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Hyderabad anticipates that this trend will persist for the next two to three years. He explained that these courses offer ample job opportunities, leading to their high demand. Only students who are really interested in the Civil and Mechanical side are opting for those courses in top colleges.

"Even though industry requirements are high, companies are picking up students who have talent. A lot of students who opted for CSE courses in the last three to four years are not getting placements as they are not up to the mark," Dr Hussain said, advising students to take up these courses only if they have a genuine interest. Dr Hussain suggests that students from other branches can also enhance their prospects by taking additional credit courses in CSE and exploring future opportunities.

According to The New Indian express, JNTUH is taking steps to bridge the faculty gap required for teaching new courses like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in Computer Science Engineering. They have established a high-end studio on campus to broadcast online classes for students in colleges across Telangana.

"Besides this, the existing faculty is being trained under various development programmes. Those who are interested in teaching new topics are encouraged to take up online certificate courses from platforms like NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning)," Dr Manzoor said.

JNTUH is anticipating the graduation of its first batch of students specialising in Artificial Intelligence soon.