Thiruvananthapuram: The APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University has started the process of closing down self-financing engineering colleges of poor standards as the deadline fixed by the expert committee of the directorate of technical education ends in the 2016-17 academic year.
The Kerala High Court had in 2012 asked the state government and the All India Council for Technical Education to consider shutting down colleges with a pass percentage of less than 40.
As a beginning, the university withdrew the sanction for admissions given to five colleges with low pass percentage this year. However, the present students can continue their studies there.
The colleges are Archana College Of Engineering, Pandalam, Sree Ernakulathappan College of Engineering and Management, Thrissur, St. Gregorios College of Engineering, Kasaragod, Pinnacle School of Engineering and Technology, Anchal, and Sadguru Swami Nithyananda Institute of Technology, Kanhangad.
None of the 108 students of Archana College and none of the 33 students of the Pinnacle College pas-sed the first semester B Tech exams.
Pass percentage at Sree Ernakulathappan College for the first half was 2.22 percent, St Gregorious College 13.33 per cent and Sadguru Swami College 14.71 per cent.
Earlier, the university had proposed that 13 colleges with less than 30 percent admissions should transfer students to other institutions. But the opposition from these colleges stalled the move.
Following this, these colleges were asked to explain the low academic standards and infrastructure. The university decided to close down the five as their explanation was not satisfactory.
