JOIN USThe days of students jostling to get engineering admission are over in Tamil Nadu with nearly a lakh seats remaining unfilled after counselling and more students rushing to commerce and arts disciplines.
The general counselling for students were held since July 1 to August 7 for engineering seats to about 530 colleges in the state affiliated to Anna University. Of the total seats, about 67,000 male students secured admission and the rest were females.
About 1.07 lakh students have secured admission in engineering colleges as on August first week, while nearly 95000 seats yet to be taken, putting college managements in a spot of bother. The colleges have extended the date of admission till August 20, but experts say it is unlikely to trigger the surge to fill in the vacant seats.
The latest statistics say 81,000 engineering seats were vacant, while 29,000 was the number of seats unfilled in 2011. Educational institutions are concerned by the increasing number of vacant seats in engineering as it has potential economic consequences for most of them.
A senior professor from Anna University said work opportunities for engineering grads are scarce these, a stark contrast to the situation five years ago.
“Most of the middle class students take educational loans to study engineering and it would be a huge burden on them if they do not get jobs immediately on completing the course,” the professor, seeking anonymity, said. He said most students find it sensible to go for commerce and arts courses which fetch them jobs.
"This year, the competition for commerce seats is high. For one B Com seat about 300 students are competing in Tamil Nadu", K Gomathi, a senior professor from a private arts college said.
“The craze among parents to admit their children in engineering colleges is over,” said Nirmala, Principal of Ethiraj College said.