Courses with few takers face closure

“Students who want to take admission to engineering or management colleges have plateaued but the number of new colleges has been increasing. This will result in vacancies as students have a multiplicity of choices and will opt for either a good college or a specific branch or a combination of both. It takes nearly eight years for a new institute to establish itself. With more supply and less demand, only those institutes with…sustaining capability will survive. This also implies that new colleges will have to struggle more to establish themselves,” said a state government official.

In Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the institutes facing reduction in intake capacity include Sinhgad Institute of Business Management, Powai, Sasmira’s Institute of Management Studies & Research, Worli, and SMT K G Mittal Institute of Management, Information Technology and Research, Malad (West), while institutes where programmes have been discontinued with include PES College of Engineering and Pillai’s Institute of Management Studies & Research, New Panvel.

For the last several years, according to data provided by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Maharashtra, there have been vacancies to the tune of over 50,000 in engineering and over 15,000 in management programmes across the state. This also includes some reputed colleges from Mumbai. A committee set up by the previous government in 2013 had said students wanted to study only in popular and good colleges in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Amravati and Nagpur and did not want admission into courses not guaranteeing jobs. High fees at non-aided institutes, lack of transport to reach colleges in rural areas, lack of hostels and non-availability of experienced and quality teachers were also cited as other reasons.

mihika.basu@expressindia.com