Students question AICTE decision on maths, physics

Students question AICTE decision on maths, physics

Farheen.Hussain@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:14.03.2021 

From wisecracks to statements expressing shock, students’ reactions poured in after the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) announced physics and mathematics (PCM) are no longer compulsory subjects for students aspiring to pursue engineering in certain streams.

As per AICTE’s announcement on Friday, for streams such as textile, agriculture engineering and biotechnology, physics and maths in class 12 are not a must. However, the subjects remained mandatory for most engineering streams like computer science.

Pankaj Sharma, a class 12 student from a city school, said the decision is difficult to digest. “Even if it is agriculture or biotechnology, it’s still engineering. I took mathematics even though I am not great at it because the subject is important for engineering. Students like me should be happy, but even I am concerned,” said the resident of Sanjaynagar.

Like Pankaj, several students took to Twitter in disbelief. Navlesh Kumar tagged Union minister for education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and said: “How is this possible? Maths and physics are the basic concepts of engineering. Don’t degrade the quality of engineering education.”

Twitterati also began sharing memes and jokes around the issue, including photos of Einstein and Newton angry over the decision. “AICTE says Math and Physics not must for Engineering. In fact, no subject should be compulsory for doing Engineering. Engineers learn everything after coming out of college anyway,” tweeted EngiNerd.

Some supported the decision. Arun Krishnan said the controversy has erupted because of miscommunication and the decision and may correct the current system, which forces students to follow a fixed route after class 10. Giving an example of flexible stream-shifting in other countries, he tweeted: “It is this kind of flexibility that we ought to have. If a student does NOT take maths/physics in 11/ 12, there ought to be a way for them to get into engineering, provided they have taken the requisite courses...”

Council does a U-turn

Though AICTE withdrew the announcement by Saturday evening and its chairman said the decision is not binding on institutions, some claimed the idea was floated without any consultation with stakeholders. “I wonder how the government just takes a decision like this without public consultation or proposals. Then they withdraw it after a backlash. It has become a norm these days,” said Kavya Srinivasan, parent of an engineering student.

Maths a must for engineering: Experts

B Sadashive Gowda, principal of Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Mysuru, said engineering is a mathsintensive course. “A student who has not opted for maths because s/he is not interested in the subject will lack fundamentals...” he said, adding consultations with subject experts and educationists should be held before such a decision is made.

KN Subramanya, principal of RV College of Engineering, said: “Maths is a must for engineering. The decision may be based on the New Education Policy, which focuses on liberal arts and multi-disciplinary approaches, but engineering cannot be done without maths.”

Maths, physics optional for engg: AICTE sticks to its decision

Maths, physics optional for engg: AICTE sticks to its decision

‘Council Initiative Would Enhance Accessibility Of Technical Edu’

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:14.03.2021 

After receiving widespread criticism for its move of making maths, physics optional for engineering admissions, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) stands by its decision of making maths, physics optional for engineering admissions from 2021-22. The council which removed the approval process handbook (APH) on Friday due to “certain typographical errors in the text and table” uploaded it on Saturday after corrections. However, APH for 2021-22 did not change the eligibility criteria for BE, BTech admissions.

As per the new eligibility criteria it is not mandatory for students to study maths and physics to join engineering and technology programmes.

They can pursue engineering by studying any three of the 14 subjects -- physics, mathematics, chemistry, computer science, electronics, information technology, biology, informatics practices, biotechnology, technical vocational subject, agriculture, engineering graphics, business studies and entrepreneurship.

“This initiative of AICTE will enhance accessibility of technical education to students coming from diverse background and also it shall seek to reduce the pressure on students to pursue such portions which are not relevant in pursuance of higher technical education. This is totally in line with the philosophy of National Education Policy 2020 in terms of flexibility and multi-disciplinary courses, innovation etc.,” the council said in its clarification.

It further said it received representations from students and industry to give option to pursue technical courses such as agriculture, biotechnology, information technology, electronics to students who did not have prior electives of maths and physics at Class XII level. The council further said that it is an option given by the council which is not binding on the states or universities and for various entrance exams such as JEE and CET among others.

“They may continue to hold the entrance exams in physics, chemistry and mathematics as is being done now and gradually decide to conduct exam in other subjects after discussing and taking decisions in the university senates and academic councils and state level committees. In future, when NEP shall be implemented in totality then this option can be implemented in its letter and spirit,” AICTE said.

Under the new pattern of 5+3+3+4 in school education, the disciplinary boundaries have been removed to promote overall development of students in different disciplines.

“Hard Boundaries (physics, chemistry, mathematics) imposed for entry into all branches of engineering education (which are 367 in Diploma and 261 in UG) since long time was affecting access to higher technical education for those who had not taken these subjects,” the council said while citing example of making chemistry optional for circuit branches including computer science.

E Balagurusamy, former vicechancellor of Anna University said AICTE should identify the engineering courses which do not need maths or physics and exempt it. “But, they cannot generalise for all courses as students cannot even understand the engineering concepts without understanding maths,” he said.

He further said such a big move has been brought in without any discussions. “There was no deliberation even among the academicians before taking such a decision.” he said adding that it would further deteriorate the quality of engineers in our country. Bridge courses will not be much help as colleges and universities may end of teaching maths for more than two years.

“Maths is a unifying subject in this emerging paradigm of interdisciplinary engineering education and hence important as a subject of study in Class XII. Also, JEE has a maths paper because its considered important for engineering admissions,” said S Vaidhyasubramaniam, vice-chancellor of SASTRA university.

The council said it received representations from students and industry to give option to pursue technical courses such as agriculture, biotechnology, information technology, electronics to students who did not have prior electives of maths and physics at Class XII level

Row over math, physics options for engg: AICTE withdraws its handbook

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST

Row over math, physics options for engg: AICTE withdraws its handbook

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 13,03,2021

A day after TOI reported that mathematics and physics at Class XII-level had been made optional for admission to engineering courses, the All-India Council for Technical Education chairperson on Friday clarified that the changes were not binding on institutions. Hours later, the AICTE withdrew its approval process handbook (APH) for 2021-22, which had the new eligibility criteria.

AICTE chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe said the new guidelines were futuristic and in keeping with the vision of the National Education Policy-2020. Physics, chemistry and maths would continue to be important subjects in engineering courses, but students would have the option to study biotechnology, textile or agriculture engineering through bridge courses.

These guidelines were not compulsory and states and institutions would be free to continue with the existing policy, Sahasrabudhe said.

By afternoon, the AICTE website carried a ticker: “It is to inform all concerned that APH 2021-22 has been withdrawn for a short period and to be placed again on the AICTE website within a day or two.”

After widespread criticism, AICTE withdraws handbook

It also removed the APH (handbook) released on its website. By night, the announcement read: “It is to inform all concerned that APH 2021-22 has been withdrawn for a typographical corrections and it will be placed again on the AICTE website within a day or two.”

The AICTE move had drawn wide protests, and a few voices in support. Many academicians said students will struggle in engineering programmes without knowing foundational mathematics.

Welcoming the AICTE’s decision to withdraw the new criteria, Anna University vicechancellor M K Surappa said maths is very critical to engineering. “Engineering itself is becoming more and more complex and requires creative solutions and analytical skills. Maths plays a very critical and advanced role in effectiveness of engineering,” he said.

However,Sandeep Sancheti, former vice-chancellor of SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai, said, “In principle, making Class XII-level maths and physics optional for engineering admissions is a good move. It will keep the entry open for someone who wants to correct his or her path. However, it needs more finer details on the implementation.”

Earlier, explaining the rationale for the AICTE move, Sahasrabudhe said, “There was a very classic case which came up this year during admission into an agricultural engineering or agricultural technology course where mathematics, physics and chemistry are mandatory. Now in open schooling and CBSE, there are subjects like agricultural chemistry. However, these institutes are only accepting pure chemistry.”

Maths, physics not a must for engg: AICTE

Maths, physics not a must for engg: AICTE

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:11.03.2021 

In a controversial move that would impact the quality of engineers produced in the country, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has made mathematics and physics at Class XII-level optional to get admissions to BE and BTech courses from 2021-22.

As of now, Class XII-level maths and physics subjects are compulsory for admissions to UG programmes in engineering and technology.

The approval process handbook for 2021-22 released by the AICTE has changed the eligibility criteria for UG admissions. Now, students have to pass 10+2 with any of the three following subjects — physics / mathematics/ chemistry / computer science / electronics / information technology / biology / informatics practices / biotechnology / technical vocational subject / agriculture / engineering graphics / business studies / entrepreneurship. Candidates have to score 45% marks (for reserved category students it’s 40% marks) in the above subjects taken together.

Mathematics a foundation for all engineering courses: Experts

AICTE said in its handbook, “The universities will offer suitable bridge courses such as mathematics, physics, engineering drawing for students coming from diverse backgrounds to achieve learning outcomes of the programme.”

The move has come under strong criticism from academicians who said mathematics is a foundation for all engineering degrees. “Bridge course is a remedial course for those who are weak in Mathematics. It cannot replace higher secondary-level mathematics,” said S Vaidhyasubramaniam, VC, SASTRA university. The AICTE’s model curriculum for engineering programmes has Mathematics running up to fifth semester in almost all programmes. “Mathematics and physics have to be compulsory for all engineering courses,” he added.

However, AICTE chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe told TOI: “It is not the question of optional. The choice of three mandatory courses required as input to engineering education are expanded, and hence for different disciplines there could be different three mandatory courses.”

“Emerging areas such as data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning are all based on mathematics. Without knowing maths, students cannot shine in these areas,” said professor D Arivudainambi, department of mathematics, Anna University.

Maths, physics not must, biz & agri students too can do engg

Maths, physics not must, biz & agri students too can do engg

Bridge Courses To Ensure Learning Outcomes: AICTE

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:12.03.2021 

In a move that could have far-reaching implications for engineering education in the country, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) — the nodal statutory body for technical education — has made mathematics and physics at Class XII-level optional for admissions to BE and BTech courses from 2021-22.

Currently, Class XII-level maths and physics are mandatory for admission to undergraduate programmes in engineering and technology.

The approval process handbook for 2021-22 released by the AICTE has changed the eligibility criteria for UG admissions. Now, students have to pass 10+2 with any three of the following subjects: Physics / mathematics / chemistry / computer science / electronics / information technology / biology / informatics practices / biotechnology / technical vocational subject / agriculture / engineering graphics / business studies / entrepreneurship.

Candidates have to score 45% marks (for reserved category students it is 40% marks) in the above subjects taken together.

“Universities will offer suitable bridge courses such as mathematics, physics, engineering drawing for the students coming from diverse backgrounds to achieve learning outcomes of the programme,” AICTE said in its handbook.

The move has come under strong criticism from academicians who said mathematics is a foundation for all engineering degrees.

‘Maths must remain a compulsory subject’

Bridge course is a remedial course for those who are weak in mathematics. It cannot replace higher secondary-level mathematicswhichis a foundational course,” said S Vaidhyasubramaniam, VC, SASTRA university. The AICTE’s model curriculum for engineering programmes has mathematics running up to fifth semester in almost all programmes. “Mathematics and physics must be compulsory for allengineeringcourses,” hesaid.

However, AICTE chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe told TOI: “It is not the question of option. The choice of three mandatory courses required as input to engineering education are expanded. Hence, for different disciplines there could be three different mandatorycourses.”

“If a student without maths is admitted,hewillbe requiredto do a lot of math courses in first year. Even earlier, direct second year entrants from diploma holders needed extra maths courses. This will bring a lot of flexibility in line with National Education Policy and in the new system of 5+3+3+4, there would be no arts, science and commerce streams. But still for understanding engineering, one will need maths, physicselsealot of bridge courses shall be required to come to the same level as those who have done physics and maths,” hesaid.

Rita John, head, department of theoretical physics, Madras University, and alsoadomain expert for physics, said: “Without physics and maths, the fundamental understanding of science will be very poor. Without a strongfoundation in science,our future engineers will not be able todo proper engineering.”

Professors say maths used to betaughtin seven outof eightsemesters and those students are generally good in engineering. As of now, maths is compulsory in three semesters and optional in the fourth. “Emerging areas such asdata science, artificialintelligence and machinelearning are all based on maths. Without knowing maths,studentscannot shine in these areas. It is not a good move,” said professor D Arivudainambi, department of mathematics,AnnaUniversity.

Anna University vice-chancellor M K Surappa said maths should remain a compulsory subject. “It is important even for courses like biological engineering and biotechnology. Mathematical knowledge helps students be more analytical and creative,” he said.

9 engg colleges could get only 1 student

COMEDK QUOTA

9 engg colleges could get only 1 student

51 Could Not Fill Even 25% Seats

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Beng aluru:05.03.2021 

Is there a high demand for seats in private engineering colleges in Karnataka? Well, data pertaining to seats under the ComedK (Consortium of medical, engineering and dental colleges - Karnataka) show there have been not many takers this admission season. Sample this: Nine engineering colleges could find only one student each in the ComedK quota while four others could get only two students each.

In a detailed list of a number of seats available and filled under the ComedK quota in colleges, it is only RV College of Engineering that has succeeded in filling up 96 per cent of the seats. Three other colleges –– National Institute of Engineering, BMS College of Engineering and MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology –– had more than 80% of their seats under the quota filled.

As many as 51 colleges could not fill even 25% of their quota; 35 of them had 10 or less than 10 students. Three of these colleges had more than 125 seats and one of them close to 200. Twenty colleges had seats between 25% and 50% filled. Another 16 colleges had filled at least 50% of the seats.

Pandemic effect

TOI had earlier reported that 69% of the ComedK seats are vacant this year. Of the total 15,020 seats, only 4,711 were filled. The dip this year has been attributed to the non-Karnataka students keeping off due to pandemic fear. Civil and mechanical engineering were the branches that were the most affected.

“Managements need to invest in colleges. They can attract students only if there is a wider vision and work towards improving quality. For many colleges, the fee is so low that they’re even unable to recruit qualified faculty. Covid has come as a double whammy for these colleges as parents have been in financial crisis and most of them did not want their children to travel,” said MK Panduranga Shetty, president of Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association.

S Sadagopan, director, International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore, said there’s a combination of factors that work against these colleges that are not able to attract students. “They might not be a great brand. Being new, their credentials are not established. The location might not be favourable. When people have a choice, they prefer to go to the good colleges. Colleges kept on adding seats a few years ago when the IT companies were recruiting in large numbers. Three years ago, the trend stopped and the spillover is now for us to see,” he said.

Private engineering colleges have to set apart 45% seats for government quota, 30% seats for students through ComedK and 25% for management quota.

Engg colleges seek relaxation of rules to begin new courses

Engg colleges seek relaxation of rules to begin new courses

They Need 50% Admissions To Obtain NBA Accreditation

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.02.2021 

Engineering colleges in the state have asked the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to relax rules to start courses in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, data science and cyber security.

Now, colleges should have accreditation to start the new courses or they have to reduce intake in existing courses. "To get accreditation, engineering colleges should have 50% admissions against sanctioned intake. With admission to traditional courses dipping in the last few years, colleges have not been able to go for accreditation. They can survive only if they get courses such as AI and data science. Hence we have asked for simplification of the rules,” a representative from the consortium of self-financing professional, arts and science colleges said.

Of 461 colleges that took part in online engineering counselling last year, only around 130 were able to fill more than 50% of seats. Based on AICTE's direction, Anna University allowed around 50 engineering colleges to start BTech AI and Data Science courses in 2020-21. The courses saw 63.5% seats filled in the first year, while response was poor for traditional courses such as civil engineering,

(23.5%), mechanical engineering (27.8%) and electrical and electronics engineering (34%).

Top colleges, which have accredited their courses, want minimum fees fixed to meet the expenditure on implementing the seventh pay commission award. "A professor's salary would come closer to ₹2lakh. We expect AICTE to fix a minimum fee for engineering courses,” said R M Kishore, vicechairman of RMK Engineering College in Chennai.

Some principals want top colleges categorised to allow them to collect more fees. "It would encourage colleges to go for accreditation. They should categorize colleges into two or three groups and fix their fees accordingly. AICTE should also think of renewing approval for top colleges once in three years instead of annually," said B Chidambararajan, principal of SRM Valliammai Engineering College. Deemed universities want AICTE to fix the intake cap for the total number of students and not separately for degree programmes. “AICTE can grant approval by default on submission of data for top 100 universities in NIRF ranking,” said S Vaidhyasubramaniam, vice-chancellor of SASTRA.

And, professors have asked AICTE to evolve a mechanism to verify salaries. "Some engineering colleges have sacked senior faculty to avoid paying high salaries. AICTE should ensure cadre ratio in all departments," said a professor at a private engineering college.

AICTE urges college to pay salary dues to staff, return certificates

AICTE urges college to pay salary dues to staff, return certificates

9 teachers of Nagercoil-based engineering college have not been paid since March

13/01/2021

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

The All India Council for Technical Education has asked the principal of Ponjesly College of Engineering in Nagercoil to pay salary to nine of its staff and also return the original certificates of its faculty.

The Council, in a letter to the principal, said it had received complaints from nine staff members, who had been working in the institution for the past four to seven years.

The faculty said the performance of the teachers was more than satisfactory as seven of 33 students had secured university ranks. Yet, the college had not paid them salary since March 2020.

Despite their performance, the college had been paying only a consolidated amount, the AICTE noted.

Not only did the college not pay salary as per AICTE norms but it also withheld all payments.

The staff appealed to the Council to ensure that the college paid them a minimum of ₹5,000 to enable them meet their domestic expenses, including recharging their mobile phones. Instead, the management had removed the faculty from the college’s official communication media group.

The AICTE communication said the management had insisted that the faculty resign when they asked for their original certificates to be returned.

Appeal to AICTE

The staff had appealed to the AICTE to help them receive their salary dues and arrears, be given access to their provident fund account, and return their certificates besides issuing experience certificates, covering their present service.

In a 10-page letter to the principal, the AICTE regional officer, M. Sundaresan, cited the various court verdicts that have been issued protecting the faculty’s rights.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the Commissioner of the Directorate of Technical Education and the Registrar of Anna University, besides the nine affected faculty members.

Physical inspection of private TN engineering colleges highly likely this year

Physical inspection of private TN engineering colleges highly likely this year

Private engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu have to apply for Anna University’s provisional affiliation online this year due to the pandemic.

Published: 11th January 2021 04:49 AM 

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Private engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu have to apply for Anna University’s provisional affiliation online this year due to the pandemic. Despite the lockdown restrictions, university officials said physical inspection may be carried out to prevent malpractice in colleges.

The affiliation inspection by varsity officials was interrupted by the lockdown the previous academic year, said varsity Vice-Chancellor MK Surappa. While many colleges were granted affiliation after physical inspection, the varsity had to make do with self-declaration of adherence to regulations to provisionally grant affiliation. “We want a clean and transparent process.

Unless the Covid-19 situation gets very bad, we will have physical inspections in most cases,” he said. While the varsity was initially mulling following the same procedure this year — keeping safety in mind — after learning of malpractice in the self-declaration process, it decided to physically inspect colleges before granting affiliation, said a varsity official.

The official said the inspection will counter-check colleges’ adherence to university regulations even though it has already received approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) . “In accordance with the recent Supreme Court ruling — that universities can deny affiliation for engineering courses even if the AICTE grants affiliation — we will make sure colleges follow all rules before approving their applications.

Existing institutes that do not submit online applications on time will not be considered for the grant of affiliations. The details of all permanently-affiliated courses conducted in colleges should also be submitted online through the same form.

The varsity’s registrar L Karunamoorthy, through a recent circular, announced that the online application portal for the ‘Affiliation Monitoring System’ will be open from 10 am on Monday till 5 pm on Tuesday.

The circular further said faculty qualifications, experience, scale of pay and cadre ratio should be strictly followed as per the AICTE’s seventh CPC norms. The college should verify the original faculty certificates, AICTE faculty ID, PAN and Aadhaar details before uploading them.

Students from commerce stream make a mark while only 181 medicine graduates pass the test

Engineers continue to bell the CAT

Students from commerce stream make a mark while only 181 medicine graduates pass the test

Jainarayan.Ram@timesgroup.com

11.01.2021

Engineers have been dominating in the list of successful candidates in the Common Admission Test (CAT) every year and the trend has been the same this year too.

Speaking to Education Times, Harshal Lowalekar, convener of CAT 2020, and an associate professor at IIM Indore says, “Of the total candidates appeared this year, 2,928 candidates were from IITs and 61,187 were from an engineering background. Nine candidates have scored 100 percentile out of whom five candidates are from IITs, and the remaining two are from other engineering institutes.”

Engineers have always performed well in the management admission test. In 2019, all ten toppers were from engineering background. “As many as 19 candidates have scored an overall 99.99 percentile in CAT 2020, of which, 16 are from engineering/technology. 18 are male candidates with only one female candidate,” says Lowalekar.

Arpit Singh, who scored 100 percentile in CAT 2016, and a 2nd year PGP Student at IIM-Ahmedabad says, “Engineers, in their initial years, prepare for JEE, which better prepares them mentally to tackle a difficult exam such as CAT.

Secondly, a lot of people who choose engineering are comfortable with numbers, and that gives them an advantage in two sections, Quant and LR/DI.” Arpit is an IIT Delhi p graduate.

A total of 1,90,144 candidates took CAT 2020. The number of male candidates was 1,23,388 and the number of female candidates was 66,755, while only one transgender candidate took the test. Besides the engineers, candidates from the Commerce stream have emerged as the second best to qualify CAT 2020.

“Of the total candidates, 30,233 are from the Commerce stream followed by 19,483 from the Management and 3,769 from the Economics background,” says Lowalekar.

Lowalekar says, 5,026 candidates have appeared from the arts, humanities, law and languages background.

Participation from the Medicine field is not much though. “Only 181 candidates appeared from Medicine,” says Lowalekar.

Among the states, Maharashtra leads the way from where maximum candidates have taken the admission test. “31,189 candidates have appeared from Maharashtra followed by 24,476 from Uttar Pradesh and 15,696 candidates from Delhi,” says Lowalekar.

276 engg seats in AU colleges wasted

276 engg seats in AU colleges wasted

Toppers Who Took Seats Leave To Pursue MBBS After Med Counselling

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  08.01.2021

As many as 276 students have discontinued BE and BTech courses this year in top TN colleges including Anna University’s College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chromepet, to study medicine and other courses. These seats meant for top rankers will lie vacant.

While CEG has 77 such seats, MIT and ACT have 67 and 55, while School of Architecture and Planning has two. In the university’s constituent colleges, 75 seats are vacant.

Unlike for medical courses, there is no second round counselling for engineering. Experts said more seats have fallen vacant during online counselling compared to single window counselling.

Professors from Anna University said such huge vacancies began appearing after the Supreme Court fixed August 15 as admission deadline for BE, BTech courses. It was later extended to August

31. “Engineering counselling should be conducted only after medical counselling to reduce vacancies in premier colleges,” said former vicechancellor E Balagurusamy, adding that medical and engineering counseling under one roof may not be possible. “TNEA (Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission) committee can have its own deadline for admissions keeping in mind the huge vacancies. It can also represent to the regulatory authority and university for seeking extension,” he said.

Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said it was a huge waste of seats. “Many, who otherwise would have studied in Anna University colleges, are spending huge money to study in self-financing colleges.”

Anna University vicechancellor M K Surappa said the government should delay engineering counselling until counselling for IITs and NITs starts. “It should conduct a second round to fill vacant engineering seats after medical counseling.”

Admissions to mechanical engg course at all-time low

Admissions to mechanical engg course at all-time low

Just One In 4 Seats Filled In Counselling

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:11.11.2020

Admissions to mechanical engineering course have been on a decline since 2017 and this year is no different. Engineering colleges were able to fill around just one in four seats for the course.

About five years ago, mechanical engineering was the most sought after course. In 2020, however, or 8,179 of the 29,354 seats — a mere 28% — were filled in online counselling, conducted from October 1 to 28. Only 11of 461engineering colleges were able to fill all seats for mechanical engineering course this year and 75 colleges could fill more than 50% of seats during counselling.

“Even some top engineering colleges also could not fill 50% of (seats for the course) ,” said career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi.

The declining trend could be a result of preference for white collar jobs, outdated syllabus and fewer placements due to poor growth of the manufacturing sector. Branches like computer science engineering and information technology had more takers with 65% and 71% of seats filled. Even newly launched courses like artificial intelligence and data science had more takers with more than 60% seats filled in the counselling Nagaraj, a professor from the mechanical engineering department of a private college, said students preference for white collar jobs is reflecting in the poor admission rate.

“IT companies provide attractive offers while core companies are unable to do so. It is also a reflection of the poor growth of the manufacturing sector in our country despite various government programmes,” he said. Industry automation has also brought down the requirement of engineers in recent years, he added.

The poor admission rate will also affect faculty members as colleges may try to reduce their staff strength. “Many faculty members from mechanical engineering departments are now seeking jobs in the industry and many are even willing to take trainee-level jobs,” said a professor, requesting anonymity.

Despite all this, some colleges said they were able to fill more than 90% seats in mechanical and other core courses this year. “We need to understand the requirements of the industry and train students. Even IT majors hire mechanical engineers with certificate programmes like project lifecycle management (PLM) software,” said RM Kishore, vicechairman, RMK Engineering College. He added that students must be ready to learn interdisciplinary areas and emerging areas to keep up with changing requirements.

Industry experts said there was a mismatch between what students learn and the skills that the industry requires. “Mechanical engineering course was not updated while the industry underwent a lot of changes. It is one of the main reasons for poor job opportunities,” said V Thiagarajan, retired general manager (TQM and Six Sigma), WABCO India. “Several new concepts like lean manufacturing for loss elimination, single minute exchange of die (SMED are being followed by the industry. But, these concepts are not being taught.”

He added that students must be introduced to electronics and be updated with technology like the Internet of Things (IoT).

20 engg colleges in TN couldn’t fill a single seat

20 engg colleges in TN couldn’t fill a single seat

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2020

Thirteen colleges, including 12 government and aided colleges and one self-financing college, filled 100% seats while 20 colleges could not fill a single seat after four rounds of online counselling conducted by Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions committee. Last year, 16 colleges could not get a single student.

This year, 56.4% seats in 461 engineering colleges remained vacant after general counselling.

The absentees in the counselling jumped by 12% compared to previous year. Of the 1,10,836 students who were called for general counselling, 69,752 (62.9%) were allotted seats in four rounds, 6,612 less than last year.

In special categories, including sports, ex-servicemen, differently-abled and vocational stream, 1,443 students got allotment. Overall, 71,195 seats (43.6%) were filled against1,63,154 seats available with 91,959 seats remaining vacant. Last year, 48.2% seats were filled in the counselling.

Due to Covid-19, the number of admissions has come down by 5% in the counselling. However, top colleges say they had a good admission season.

“These colleges have filled more seats despite the Covid-19 crisis. Students and parents gave importance to colleges that have good placement records and faculty members,” said R M Kishore, vice-chairman, RMK Engineering College.

Colleges with poor placement records last year could not attract many students. This year, only 139 colleges were able to fill more than 50% of the seats in the counselling.

“At the end of academic counselling, almost 250 colleges have less than 100 seats in the first year. It is financially not viable for the management to give quality education. Students and faculty members would be affected,” said career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi. A majority of the students joined computer science, information technology, artificial intelligence and data science, electronics and communication, he said.

Principals said around 103 colleges will face a crisis in 2020-21 as they were able to fill less than 10% of their intake. A private college principal said colleges which have less than 10% admissions cannot afford faculty members and conduct classes for these students. “Anna University should intervene and transfer these students to other colleges which have more admissions,” he said.

SC stays HC order on new engg. courses

SC stays HC order on new engg. courses

Courses sanctioned without proper study, says KTU

19/10/2020

K.C. Gopakumar KOCHI

The Supreme Court has stayed the High Court verdict directing the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) to consider the applications submitted by various self-financing engineering colleges seeking affiliation for starting additional undergraduate courses in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Blockchain.

The stay order came on a special leave petition filed by the KTU challenging the High Court judgment.

Varsity stance

The university in its petition said the action of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in sanctioning new courses to institutions without a study on the subjects and without consultations with the State government/university/board was in violation of the provisions of the AICTE Act.

The petition said the university decision was in line with the State government’s decision in this regard. The State government had decided to grant new courses in the existing engineering colleges only if they satisfied certain conditions. The conditions are that the new courses should have NBA accreditation, admission in the previous years should be more than 50% of the sanctioned intake, and new courses proposed should be innovative. These conditions are imposed since the demand for engineering undergraduate courses in private self-financing colleges has drastically come down in the past decade.

Study by experts

A study by academic experts said the low rate of admission would make the institutions financially unviable and lead to compromise on faculty and infrastructure. The study opined that indiscriminate sanctioning of courses in below par institutions was against the interests of society. Colleges could aspire for new courses only after getting NBA accreditation for the existing courses, the petition added.

Engg counselling scheduled from Oct 8 to be delayed?

Engg counselling scheduled from Oct 8 to be delayed?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.10.2020

The round-wise schedule for online engineering counselling for the general category is yet to be announced, sparking doubts that the process will be delayed.

The Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) committee said counselling would begin from October 8, but is yet to notify how many students qualify for each round and dates for filling choices, tentative allotment and initial payment. The TNEA committee released the rank list for 1,12,406 candidates on September 28. TNEA officials said the higher education minister K P Anbalagan would release the schedule on Wednesday. They refused to comment when asked whether the counselling will begin as scheduled.

Sources said the minister was busy with the political developments in the AIADMK, which is set to announce its CM candidate on Wednesday.

Last year, the choice filling started from July 8 for the first round. But, the TNEA had declared the complete schedule on July 1 giving more time for students to decide.

Educational consultant D Nedunchezhiyan said the round-wise schedule should have been released at least a week ago to help students prepare. TNEA has released the videos to help the students to prepare the choice list and pay the initial payment through online. However, experts argue students need schedule to know whether they are part of round 1or round 2 and when to give their choices.

Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said there’s nothing wrong in postponing counseling by a week. “The counselling is scheduled to begin before the first round of Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSSA) for central institutions and medical admissions. There are many IIT aspirants and NEET aspirants in the TNEA 2020 rank list. If the counselling is conducted before JoSSA and medical counselling, all top colleges will have huge vacancies,” he pointed out.

The online choice filling for round 1 for the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) began on Tuesday. The first round of online counselling for IITs, NITs, IIITs will go on till October 17. Anna University former VC E Balagurusamy said when the engineering counselling was conducted by Anna University, it had total control and the minister would visit only during the release of rank list. “Since the directorate of technical education is conducting the counselling now, they are waiting for the approval of the minister for every move which is unfortunate,” he said.

TNEA is yet to notify how many students qualify for each round and dates for filling choices, tentative allotment and initial payment

45% engineering seats likely to go vacant in Gujarat’s colleges

 45% engineering seats likely to go vacant in Gujarat’s colleges

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:19.09.2020

The Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) today announced the provisional merit list for engineering courses according to which 27,261 candidates have been chosen. This will leave about 45% seats or about 22,791 seats vacant for the admission committee.

In all there are 64,782 seats this year of which ACPC is given the task to fill 50,051 seats. The remaining seats are to be filled by the self-financed colleges. In the provisional merit list, 23,483 candidates are from Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Board, 3,390 are from CBSE, 256 are from ICSE, NIOS 87 and 45 are domicile candidates. This year, the total number of seats for engineering has reduced as compared to 73,345 engineering seats last year. As many as 6,000 seats have been reduced after closure of five self-financed colleges. In the case of government colleges, there is a reduction of 2,130 seats in faculties like EC, IC, power electronics, mining and production engineering.

Earlier this week, 900 new candidates were registered after ACPC extended the deadline for online registration for the third time. The final merit list is expected to be announced next week. The deadline was first extended from August 8 to August

28. It was later revisited and a new deadline of September 5 was given for registration. By then, as many as 29,000 students had registered online. The admission committee however decided to extend the deadline given the large number of vacant seats in engineering colleges. But only 900 fresh candidates have registered, leaving about half of the total engineering seats empty.

There are currently 66,128 seats available in degree engineering colleges.

Of these, 9,086 seats are of 16 government run colleges, 1,622 seats of four grantin aid colleges, 543 are of 2 engineering institutes run on PPP model, 29,134 are of 72 self-financed institutes (SFIs) affiliated with Gujarat Technological University and 24,013 are of 38 SFIs associated with private universities in the state. The remaining 204 seats are of an autonomous college.

The admission process for engineering and medical courses is expected to be completed only by November following which students will start attending college from December, according to sources. As a result, students are likely to be behind schedule by at least one semester in the new academic year, sources added.

A new confusion over arrear examinations

A new confusion over arrear examinations

AICTE chief said in an email that the council may be “constrained” to withdraw the university’s approval if exams are not conducted

Published: 09th September 2020 05:08 AM 

EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan And sv krishna chaitanya

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Will arrear exams be held for engineering students or not? Tuesday’s developments have left students and parents confused. While the State government, in the High Court, defended its decision to cancel the arrear examinations, the head of AICTE has threatened to withdraw the approval of varsities that do not hold the said examinations.

In an informal but strongly-worded communication sent to the Anna University on August 30, Anil Sahasrabuddhe, chairman of AICTE, had said the council may be “constrained to withdraw approval if exams are not conducted.” In the court, meanwhile, former vice-chancellor of Anna University, E Balaguruswamy, had filed a petition challenging the State’s decision to cancel the exam.

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The chronology

Earlier, the government announced the cancellation of all semester exams for April-May 2020 except for the end-semester students. However, it did not mention the status of arrear examinations in any of its orders. On August 26, Higher Education Minister KP Anbalagan broached the topic. “The government wants to give a chance to all students by declaring all those who have applied to write as passed,” he said. “If they paid fees, it means they were prepared to write it but were stopped by circumstances.”

Anna univ risks losing approval with no-arrear idea

THE decision was welcomed by students, and soon gained political attention. While the cancellation of semester examinations sailed through smoothly, the decision to clear students with arrears received flak from educationists. “The Government Order has been passed under the Disaster Management Act exercising the powers vested with the State Disaster Management Authority under the legislation,” argued Advocate-General Vijay Narayanan, representing the State government in court on Tuesday. 

“Even the apex court has upheld such rights and powers of the State authority under the Act if it does not conflict UGC guidelines.” On the other hand, advocate E Vijay Anand, representing the former V-C, said only universities have such powers. “The State government cannot interfere in these matters. The Supreme Court has held that the UGC is the ultimate authority in such issues. The UGC has advised the States only to promote the students while retaining their backlogs.

Arrears, as a result, cannot be cleared.” Universities do not conduct exams and give results based on the ‘whims and fancies’ of students and politicians. “Universities are highly autonomous bodies and their syndicates, senates and academic councils have all powers and authority, and only they can decide about the conduct of exams and passing of results,” Balagurusamy had recently said in a statement. Vijay Anand argued further that if the decision of the Tamil Nadu government is not quashed, students across the country would claim cancelation of arrears as a right. Recording the submissions, a division bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha directed the State to file a detailed counter and adjourned the plea to September 30.

AICTE stance

The AICTE is the national-level apex advisory body to conduct a survey on the facilities available for technical education and its approval is required by universities to run technical courses. Sahasrabuddhe, in his email, remarked that he found it surprising that final year students, who had failed in various courses in the earlier semesters, are being passed without conducting examinations. “This is not acceptable to award marks without conducting any examination and graduating the students. Such students will not be recognised by industry or by other universities for higher education,” he said.

While the State has defended its position in the court on Tuesday, in a telephonic conversation with Express on Tuesday morning, Sahasrabuddhe claimed to be informed otherwise. He said he had discussed the issue with the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu. “He (Chief Secretary) also said that there is some misunderstanding...we are not waiving off exams for the failed students.

It is somehow a wrong interpretation by people based on the circular which was issued which was very clear that (said) all AICTE, UGC guidelines shall be followed,” he elaborated adding, “which means the exams will be undertaken.” He further said that council will not be withdrawing the varsity’s approval if arrear exams are held. “How can someone with backlogs be passed?” he wondered. Sahasrabuddhe further said that the remarks in the email will be meaningless if the State had not waived off the arrear exams.

No official letter yet

AICTE has not issued any official letter, it was an email, MK Surappa clarified to Express. When asked if Anna University issued any notification that waived off any arrear exam, Surappa said, “We have not issued any circular like that to students.” He did not want to comment further on the issue. Principal Secretary to the Higher Education Department S Apoorva was unavailable for comments through repeated calls. “We will follow whatever direction the court gives,” Higher Education Mminister KP Anbalagan told Express on telephone. Vice Chancellors of some varsities too have expressed the same position on the matter.

Arrear exams shall be conducted in Tamil Nadu: AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabuddhe

Arrear exams shall be conducted in Tamil Nadu: AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabuddhe

The issue came to light, after a strongly-worded email, written by Sahasrabuddhe to Anna University V-C threatening to strip Anna University's approval, was leaked on social media.

Published: 08th September 2020 11:19 AM 

AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabuddhe (Photo| AICTE website)

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Engineering students who have arrears and had applied for re-exam in April/May 2020, have not passed and will have to write the exams to graduate, said Anil Sahasrabuddhe, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Chairman.

The issue came to light, after a strongly-worded email, written by Sahasrabuddhe to Anna University Vice-Chancellor (VC) MK Surappa, threatening to strip Anna University's approval, was leaked on social media.

Sahasrabuddhe in his mail remarked that he found it surprising that final year students, who had failed in various courses in the earlier semesters, are being passed without conducting examinations. "This is not acceptable to award marks without conducting any examination and graduating the students. Such students will not be recognised by industry or by other universities for higher education," he said in the mail.

Sahasrabuddhe further asserted that, "AICTE will be constrained to withdraw the approval of Anna University."

In a telephonic conversation with The New Indian Express on Tuesday morning, Sahasrabuddhe confirmed sending the mail to Surappa and added that he had also discussed the issue with state Chief Secretary K Shanmugham. "She also said that there is some misunderstanding...we are not waiving off exams for the failed students. It is somehow a wrong interpretation by people based on the circular which was issued which was very careful that (said) all AICTE UGC guidelines shall be followed," he elaborated.

He further said that council will not be withdrawing the varsity's approval if arrear exams shall be held. "How can someone with backlogs be passed?" he wondered.

AICTE has not issued any official letter, it was an email, MK Surappa clarified to TNIE. When asked if Anna University issued any notification that waived off any arrear exam, Surappa said, "We have not issued any circular like that to students." He did not want to comment further on the issue.

On July 23, the government announced the cancellation of semester exams for all but final year students. On August 26, CM Edappadi K Palaniswami further directed the Higher Education Department to issue detailed guidelines on the cancellation of the April-May 2020 semester exams for all college students, barring those in their final year.

TN engg students get real with virus, embrace virtual lab tests

TN engg students get real with virus, embrace virtual lab tests

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:16.08.2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it several challenges and some new opportunities too like the resuscitation of virtual labs project of the ministry of human resources development that had remained moribund for almost a decade. Though online classes have started, professional colleges were unable to conduct experiments without opening their labs to students.

The virtual labs project, which allows students to do their experiments remotely by using cloud computing, will also help them access video lectures, demonstrations and reference books. “Virtual labs are like simulators. All engineering experiments except chemical and biotech ones can be done in virtual mode,” said Sandeep Sancheti, vice-chancellor, SRMIST. The labs are essentially graphical front-end working in synchronization with a back-end consisting of a simulation-engine running on a server or actual measurement data or a remotely-triggered experiment. “Virtual labs are safer and better for experimentation. The students are doing experiments individually instead of groups where one or two will do the experiments and others will just measure the readings,” he said.

TESTING TIME: Virtual labs help students to do their experiments remotely by using cloud computing

Virtual experiments can be done 24x7

The virtual experiments can be done 24x7 instead of four or five hours in the regular mode. “Many institutes can come together and offer virtual experiments to their students to make it affordable. There is no limit for the number of attempts and they will get access to highend equipment,” he added.

He further said virtual labs can lead to virtual education and universities. “There are many tools for online classes and exams. If we develop effective virtual labs, it would give final push to establishing virtual universities,” Sancheti said. “We are sensitizing our staff to virtual experiments. We will allow our students to do virtual experiments from next week,” said RM Kishore, vice-chairman, RMK Engineering College.

Students have to do 12 to 15 experiments per lab course in a semester. The virtual lab project will cover most of the experiments.

“A student would get just one chance in a physical lab experiment. He or she can get a chance to do multiple experiments. It is free of cost. Anybody can join and access the website and do the experiments. At present, we are giving it as value-addition,” he added.

“In the present situation when students are not able to come to colleges and do physical experiments, virtual labs would offer them help. These labs can develop the curiosity of students. It will play an important role even after Covid,” said M K Surappa, vice-chancellor, Anna University.

National Institute of Technology, Karnataka in Surathkal is one of the pioneers in setting up virtual labs.

Many TN institutions have already approached the NITK for setting up and accessing virtual labs.

National Institute of Technology, Karnataka in Surathkal is one of the pioneers in setting up virtual labs. Many TN institutions have already approached the NITK for setting up and accessing virtual labs