Only 40 per cent of engg graduates get jobs: Govt

In a disturbing revelation it has come to the notice of the Parliament that the employability quotient of engineering graduates is dismal despite the fact that technical colleges have sprung up in every nook and corner of the country.

According to Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, only 40 per cent of engineering graduates got placements after passing out of college. The statement of HRD Minister in Rajya Sabha is enough to believe that fate of engineering students appears bleak as colleges are not providing quality and competitive education to their students.

"The quality of education in these institutes is poor as a large number of teachers in these colleges do not possess prescribed qualifications and the teachers, even the qualified ones, are being paid a monthly salary of about Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000," said CPI(M) member CP Narayanan while raising the pertinent question in the Upper House.

Out of the 31 lakh engineering students passing out every year, 60 per cent don't get placed, which is happening due to the obsolete syllabus as well as poor teaching standards.

According to the details provided by the minister, the number of approved engineering colleges in the country in 2016-17 was 8,409, their approved intake was 31.72 lakh students and there were 6.47 lakh teachers. In 2015-16, there were 8,552 approved colleges with an approved intake of 33.23 lakh, while the actual enrolment was 16.62 lakh.

The HRD Minister assured the house that the AICTE has decided to introduce summer internships for at least 75 per cent of the students and introduce updated model curriculum to improve this bleak scenario. "The government has set up a target of making at least 60 per cent of engineering graduates in the country employable in the next 5 years," Javadekar said.

However, informing the House about plans to improve the employability of engineering graduates during the Question Hour, the HRD Minister said, "We have decided to take many steps such as imparting required skills and making them industry-ready to improve the employability of students. The government has also decided to increase the percentage of accredited programmes. As the institutes have only 15 per cent accredited programmes, the Centre is pushing hard to take it up to 50 per cent."

To replace the obsolete syllabi, the AICTE would put up a model curriculum on its website which it would also keep updating regularly.

Speaking about BEd colleges, he said there were a large number of complaints about the quality of education, following which the HRD ministry has asked them to submit affidavits about the number of teachers, salaries, infrastructure etc.

About 6,300 institutions have given the feedback which was being analysed, while hundreds of those colleges which have not submitted the required details will get notices asking why action should not be taken against them, the HRD minister said, adding that in the current year, there were 122 technical institutions which have been permitted to be closed.