Reasons for the declining craze for Engineering Studies in India
It is evident that almost half of those who graduate from the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) take their skills to work in financial markets and consulting.
In this article, you will get to know why there is a declining craze for engineering studies in India. There are various reasons for it and we will discuss them in detail. So, if you are further interested, then keep on reading the article.
In the last 10 years, the perspective of students toward engineering studies has slightly changed. But, today also, lakhs and lakhs of students pursue engineering studies in India. But for what do they do engineering?
On the other hand, we can’t deny the fact that India’s crisis in engineering studies is quite visible. According to the reports of National Employability Report 2016, around 80 percent of engineers in India are unemployable.
AICTE extended ban on new engineering colleges till 2024
According to a report, in the year 2017-18, the percentage of those who got jobs from AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) – approved engineering colleges is less than 50 percent.
This means that out of 7.92 lakh students who graduated, only 3.59 lakh secured jobs through campus placements. This data was shared by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal in the Lok Sabha.
As we all know, Unemployment is one of the main reasons why the craze for engineering studies is declining.
A few reasons why Indian engineers are considered unemployable are a Lack of an updated curriculum, non-existent linkages with industry, the unregulated opening of technical institutions, and poor student-faculty ratio. These are some main reasons for the unemployment in engineering in the country.
There is no doubt why even after studying engineering, young graduates are unable to find jobs. This is because of a lack of skilled and employable engineers (except for a few excellent colleges such as IITs, NIITs, and more).
Some of the reasons include lack of an updated academic curriculum, non-existent linkages with industry, poor students-faculty ratio, the unregulated opening of technical institutions, etc.
- Un-updated academic curriculum, as the technologies, studies, and trends keep on changing around the world, it is very important to add these topics into studies. And our country lacks this particular aspect. This is one of the reasons for unemployable engineers.
- Non-existent linkages with industry, because the main focus of students and the professors is to rote learn things and score good marks. On the other hand, they fail to update themselves on- the improvement of educational planning and efficiency, improve student learning, labor market function, improve student learning and motivation, etc. This is another one of why engineers are considered unemployable.
- Unregulated opening of technical institutions- Another reason is that there are many institutions that provide an opportunity to study engineering, but they lack quality of education. And students from there hardly get recruited and hence add up to the unemployment sector. This is another reason for unemployable engineers.
Since the year 2016, the seats available for engineering studies are declining, (according to reports, 75 thousand annually) just like the craze of engineering among the students. AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) wants to close around 800 engineering colleges. From the year 2014-to 2015 till the year 2017-18 more than 410 engineering colleges were closed.
In the year, 2018-2019, 105 engineering colleges were closed. On average, around 100 engineering colleges are closed every year for not adhering to the rules of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). These colleges are closed due to the strict rules of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). The rules are- that a college that reports less than 30 percent admission for the 5 consecutive years and lacks college infrastructure will be closed by the AICTE authority.
- Poor student’s faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of faculty members or professors in the institution. This is the reason why students’ concepts are not cleared. And most of the students are not able to clear interviews and secure a job. This is a major problem. And another reason for unemployable engineers.
Disadvantages of Engineering
We will discuss a few disadvantages of engineering that are the main reason for the Declining Craze for Engineering Studies in India.
Lack of Gender Diversity in the Field
There is a lack of gender diversity in the field of engineering. The male-female ratio is very high. According to a survey, more than 73 percent of male students pursue engineering, and less than 30% of Women in Engineering Programs.
Low Pay Scale
For an engineer, the starting salary can be very low. The package may be less than the fees paid in 4 years of college. This can also be exhausting for an engineer because they have to study a lot. There are various branches of engineering in which the pay scale does not even increase as others may increase.
Long Working Hours
Long Working hours can be challenging for a few of us. Sometimes, the workload is very high in engineering and deadlines are hard to meet. In this situation, an engineer needs to work for long hours.
Shrinking Job Growth in Certain Specialties
There are various engineering streams that are not valuable and job growth is shrinking day by day. A few years ago, there was no scope for computer science engineering, but today loads and loads of jobs are available. Chemical engineering is one of the most unvaluable branches of engineering.
Work Sites Can Be Hazardous
There are various engineering branches that can be hazardous. For example- a site may have huge machinery, sharp tools, fire and work accidents, pollution, flammable, etc.
Some of the branches which sites can be hazardous are- Chemical engineers, Electrical engineers, Mining engineers, Construction engineers, Aerospace engineers, etc.
Conclusion
This article was all about why there is a declining craze for engineering studies in India. There are various reasons for it and we have explained them in detail. Some of the reasons for this decline are- Lack of an updated curriculum, non-existent linkages with industry, the unregulated opening of technical institutions, and poor student-faculty ratio.
In past many news dailies have posted this in their columns. and looking into the employability scope and the edtech start ups by IIT graduates it is evident that IIT graduates are not utilising the engineering studies for Core Engineering jobs instead looking for an entrepreneurship. Do you also agree that there is a declining craze for engineering studies in India?Â
Please do comment and let us know!
