Mathematics is a struggle for engineering students: Survey

According to a learning assessment survey carried out by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), first-year engineering students, across major disciplines, struggled the most in mathematics.

Undertaken to evaluate the quality of technical education and identify issues that impact the employment prospects of engineering students, the survey found that students pursuing civil engineering were the lowest performers in "fundamental subjects", according to an Indian Express report. The issue of struggles with maths remains unaddressed in the school education system for a vast majority of students.

The survey was conducted on 1.29 lakh students across 2,003 AICTE-approved institutes between September 2021 and June 2022, through a specially designed online test, PARAKH. While first-year students were assessed on physics, chemistry and maths, second-, third-and fourth-year students were tested in their specialisation areas. For those in third and fourth-year, their performance in emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things was taken into consideration for the overall score.

An analysis of the maths, physics and chemistry skill levels of 22,725 first-year students showed that more emphasis on maths in the engineering domain was required, according to the survey report. "Civil (engineering) is the lowest-performing department across maths, physics and chemistry streams," the report said. "More focus is required in the civil department in fundamental subjects."

In mathematics, civil engineering students scored an average of 37.48 per cent, Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) students an average of 38.9 per cent, mechanical engineering students 39.48 per cent, electrical engineering students 40.02 per cent and Computer Science Engineering (CSE) students 40.12 per cent, said the IE report.

Electrical engineering students emerged as the best performers in physics, with an average score of 52.5 per cent. They were followed by CSE students at 51 per cent, mechanical engineering students at 50 per cent, ECE students at 48.8 per cent and civil engineering students at 48.5 per cent. Electrical and CSE secured the top two positions in chemistry while civil, mechanical and ECE students bagged the next few positions.

While second-year students emerged as the best performers in overall scores, the third- and fourth-year pupils witnessed a clear dip in their results.

The report highlighted that students gradually lost focus on aptitude-related topics like general knowledge and logical reasoning that companies take into account during hiring.