MillenniumPost
Bengal

State panel to oversee private engg colleges

Chatterjee was inaugurating the Eastern India’s Largest Education Exhibition 2016 at Netaji Indoor Stadium Thursday morning, which was organized by the Association of Professional Academic Institutions (APAI), West Bengal.

Chatterjee said the department would not compromise with the quality of education offered at private engineering colleges. The committee would monitor admission of students in various private engineering colleges.

Private engineering colleges are mushrooming in the state, but it is often alleged that the quality of education offered in these institutions is not up to the mark. As a result, the scenario of placement of students becomes quite gloomy. Engineering graduates from many private engineering colleges fail to get jobs and are forced to take up other professions other than engineering.

A senior teacher at Rajabazar Science College said in many colleges the standard of teaching faculty is poor. “The best brains in engineering either go abroad or join the industry, the remaining join the teaching profession by taking up jobs offered by state and central governments. Students with average academic record join the private engineering colleges,” the teacher said.

In most private engineering colleges, there are no permanent teachers and teachers from different colleges are invited as guest lecturers to impart training and wisdom to students. As the pay packet of the teachers in universities has gone up, the teachers do not show interest to join private engineering colleges as the pay packet is also poor.

The senior teacher said in most of the private engineering colleges, laboratories are below standard. Even the libraries do not have enough books.

“Under such a situation, the setting up of a monitoring committee is welcome,” said the teacher.

Allegations have also been made against some private engineering colleges that development fees worth 
thousands of rupees are taken from the students. This money, instead of making academic improvements to the college, is spent to pay salaries of the teaching and non-teaching staff. The committee will be 
constituted soon and will have six members. There will be representatives from state-run and autonomous engineering colleges.

The committee will visit private engineering colleges and give a report to the State Higher Education department.  Those colleges having a poor track record and inadequate infrastructure will be asked to upgrade itself within a stipulated time.

Chatterjee said the main aim was to see that the students studying in private engineering colleges get quality education at par with their counterparts in the state-run ones and get placement after completing their graduation.

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