At the end of the second round of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA) counselling on Saturday, 306 of the 440 engineering institutions in Tamil Nadu had managed to fill less than 10% of their seats.
Experts are concerned about the trend because at least six of the 306 institutes are affiliated with the prestigious Anna University (AU). At the University VOC College in Thoothukudi, just 36 seats out of 386 were filled, whilst at the University College of Engineering in Pattukkottai, 33 seats out of 387 were filled. Similarly, out of 387 seats, University Colleges of Engineering at Panruti, Nagapattinam, and Ramanathapuram have only managed to fill 21, 17, and 13 seats, respectively.
Only 11 of the 388 seats at the Ariyalur campus were filled. However, at the end of two rounds, almost 95% of seats at the four AU campuses in Chennai had been filled.According to analysts, a number of the university's constituent colleges, which were formerly known for their affordable fees and high-quality education, have lost their reputation in recent years due to a lack of suitable facilities. Jayaprakash Gandhi, a career counsellor, agreed that admissions to some of the component colleges have been declining year after year. It is abysmally low this year, as these six universities have only managed to fill 10% of seats after two rounds. 'The
Computer Science craze is lowering the appeal of core engineering courses,' says one expert.
According to E Balagurusamy, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, one of the key causes for the dramatic drop in admission numbers is a lack of adequate staff personnel.
Meanwhile, university administrators believe that the growing popularity of computer science courses is fueling the decline in basic engineering courses.Others cited the location of several of the colleges as a reason why students did not choose them.
A university faculty member stated that some of the constituent institutions are located in inner areas where students prefer not to study, stated. The university's Vice-Chancellor, R Velraj, stated that steps are being taken to address the problem of faculty shortages. He stated that faculty will be appointed as quickly as possible in all university colleges.