225 B-schools, 52 engineering colleges close in 2 years

When the sun of the new millennium came up, shining on the aspirations of a young India, it marked the golden age for professional education. In the early part of the last decade, hundreds of new institutes came up and thousands of aspirants queued up to join them. That was a time when the country added up to 100,000 seats to its professional colleges every year.

A decade later, the picture is one of stark contrast in technical professional colleges: Since 2011, 225 B-schools and over 50 engineering colleges across India have downed shutters. Many more colleges have trimmed programmes, branches of engineering or streams in the management course. On the academic floor, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme was once supreme. Arrogantly and unambiguously, it became the final sign-off to schooling, attracting not only those interested in business but also those who wanted to master the tools of management.

Now, for the first time, overall growth of MBA education is negative in the books of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). In 2011-12, 146 new B-schools came up and 124 that were already running closed down. This year so far, 101 management colleges have closed down, only 82 have started. Similar is the story with the Master of Computer Application (MCA) course — 84 colleges stopped offering the programme this year; only 27 started MCA courses.

For students who choose not to apply to an MCA college, the decision is a no-brainer: with many more engineering seats available now, an undergraduate would rather earn a BTech degree followed by a two-year master’s than enrol for a bachelor’s in computer application and back it up with a three-year MCA that would also eat up six years.

Alive to the problem, the AICTE has decided to allow colleges to offer a five-year dual degree programme and also permit graduates of science, BSc (Computer Science) and BSc (Information Technology) to jump to the second year of the MCA course. Yet, the small positive growth in the sector is from the engineering colleges where new institutes are coming up faster than closures taking place, largely in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.

AICTE Chairman S S Mantha said: “This is a turning phase for the professional education sector. Colleges in remote India and institutes of poor quality are not getting students. And for colleges, there is just one key to attracting students: institutes need to be top-of-the-line colleges. There is no payoff in running a bad college.”

Joining a professional college was once the pinnacle of an Indian student’s career for the seats were far outnumbered by aspirants. So students often happily chose anonymous professional colleges. But over time, they were put off by any of three reasons: poor quality of teaching, lack of adequate faculty or no job offer at the end. “A young graduate would rather take up a job or prepare harder for another shot at an entrance exam which is the gateway to a better college,” said a Director of one of the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).

The problem is also linked to the slowdown, said Samir Barua, Director, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). The job market has been tight for a couple of years. Earlier, many would give up a job to get an MBA and then re-enter the job market after pumping up their CV. “They are hesitant to take such a risk now. The pressure is being felt and applications for MBA are falling. But undergraduate programmes like engineering would not feel the same tension as everyone still at least wants their first college degree,” explained Barua.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), October 8, 2012

Professional courses see fewer takers, fall in seats; but MBA still popular

Going by the number of new institutes sanctioned by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), professional courses like architecture, pharmacy, hotel management and computer applications have lost some of their popularity. However, MBA courses continue to hold sway among students. Professional courses account for 19% of the total higher education enrolment and except management programmes, all other technical and professional courses in the country have seen a decline in the number of institutes and seats.

The AICTE sanctioned 12% fewer institutes for master of computer applications (MCA) programmes in 2011 and 15% less for architecture courses compared with 2010. Hotel management and catering technology (HMCT) programmes have been hit the most with the council reducing the number of approvals by 20% in 2011. The council has also decided not to approve new engineering colleges from the 2013-14 academic year due to a growing number of vacant BE/BTech seats in existing colleges. Engineering institutes saw a minuscule increase of 0.69% despite being the most popular professional stream in India, accounting for about 10% of total higher education enrolment.

“There are no takers for these programmes and we have a surplus of institutes which is much more than the requirement. This overcapacity along with lesser popularity for such courses is the problem,” said a senior AICTE official, adding that of the 74 institutes approved by the council this year, the majority are engineering colleges. However, there is a decline in the institutes that offer other professional programmes. For instance, from 1,169 MCA institutes sanctioned in 2009-10, the number fell to 1,026 in 2010-11 while in the same period the number of AICTE sanctioned pharmacy institutes declined from 1,080 to 982.

“The existing colleges are not filling up and there are no takers for private institutes. Moreover, poor quality of teaching and defunct curriculum drive away potential students,” explained Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Director, FICCI’s Education Committee. The lack of qualified faculty, and the inability of these institutes to maintain the standards set by AICTE or to pay the salaries fixed by the AICTE have also led to closure of many such institutes in the country. Close to 134 institutes have submitted applications for closure of programmes due poor student strength this year. According to an AICTE official, “There are many fly-by-night operators that impart poor quality education. This is also the reason that students are not interested in such courses any more.”

The number of AICTE-approved technical institutes was 5,269 at the beginning of the 11th Five Year Plan period and currently stands at 10,139. The Planning Commission is targeting an additional enrolment of 10 million in the 12th Five Year Plan period to bring India’s gross enrolment ratio (GER), which stands at 11% and is half the world average and way behind developed countries (54%).

Source: The Financial Express, April 6, 2012