No takers for 21,000 engineering seats

The demand for engineering courses seems to be fast diminishing with 21,000 seats, out of 64,000 seats available, remaining unallotted this year.

According to Comed-K data, there is zero admission in 33 private colleges. Out of 16,236 seats available through Comed-K for 2018-19, only 10,175 seats are filled. About 40% seats in Comed-K are unallotted.

The number of vacant seats may go up as counselling for medical, dental and AYUSH programmes is yet to take place.

“A few engineering students may give up their seats and opt for medical programmes. It means the number of vacant seats in engineering will go up. A clear picture will emerge once counselling for all the courses concludes,” Gangadaraiah, administrative officer, Karnataka Examinations Authority told DH.

18,000 seats last year

“Number of unallotted seats is increasing every year. Last year, 18,000 remained unallotted. There is no other way these seats can be filled as the last date for admissions is already over,” he added.

Many reasons are attributed for decrease in the demand for the engineering. Slump in employment opportunities and sharp hike in fees have been identified as primary reasons.

“Employers prefers BCA graduates to engineering graduates. Some students are very particular about a set of colleges to pursue engineering for placement reasons. They give up their seats and pursue other undergraduate programmes,” he said.

Only a few students voluntarily opted for engineering,” Gangadaraiah added.