BHOPAL : Despite a promotional campaign, the number of applicants for the Joint Entrance Test (JEE) for admission to engineering colleges in the next session has declined by 10,000, said sources.
The deadline for submitting application for JEE was extended but the numbers did not grow. “Till Friday, 81,245 students had registered for JEE. Out of them, 79,304 deposited the requisite fee,” said technical education department officials.
This is the second year when the Technical Education Department has decided to provide admissions in BE and B Tech courses through the central test. Private colleges had blamed lack of publicity of the JEE for the decline in the number of students who took admission in under graduate engineering courses this year.
However, the officials said, there was no change despite promotional campaign and students being imparted information about the test. “This is happening all over the country. Students’ interest in engineering as career has declined because of low employability. For students of science background, there are many more options for graduation,” said the officials.
Last year, 91,000 students had appeared in JEE. Only half of the one lakh seats sanctioned by AICTE were filled in engineering courses. Private colleges suffered the most because of low admission.
Students will be shifted from colleges with low admissions
The decline in the number of students applying for JEE has worried technical education officials. “Students suffer because of low admissions. It is not financially viable for colleges to run colleges if they do not get sufficient number of students,” said Director, Technical Education Ashish Dongre. The DTE said, “We are considering shifting students from private colleges where less than 20 percent seats are filled in the forthcoming session.”
