225 Bschools,52 Engg Colleges To Shut Down in 2yrs

Every year large number of institutes were set up and thousands of candidates applied to them. Around 1 lakh seats were added to the professional college every year. A decade later, the picture is one of the complete contrast in technical professional colleges since 2011.

225 B Schools and over 52 engineering colleges across India have to shut down in next 2 years. Many more college have reduced the programmes, branches of engineering or disciplines in the management course.

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme was the only one course supreme to all courses. It became the final sign to schooling, attracting not only those interested in business but also those who wanted to master the tools of management.

Now, the overall growth of the MBA course education is adverse in the book of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). In the academic year 2011-12, 146 new B Schools came up and 124 were already running close down. This year so far, 101 management colleges have closed down, only 82 have started.

Similar with the Master of Computer Application (MCA) course also, around 84 colleges topped offering the programme this year, only 27 started MCA Course.

For students who choose not to apply to an MCA college, the decision is a no-brainier with many more engineering seats available now, am undergraduate would rather earn a B.Tech degree followed by a 2 years master's than enroll for a Bachelor's in Computer Application (BCA) course and back it up with a 3 year MCA course would also eat up six years.

For this reason, AICTE has decided to allow colleges to offer a 5 year dual degree programme and also permit graduates of science, B.Sc (computer Science) and B.Sc (Information Technology) to jump to the second year of the MCA Course. Yet, the small positive growth in the sector from the engineering colleges where new institutes are coming up faster than closures taking place, largely in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharahstra, Punjab and Rajasthan.

S S Mantha, AICTE Chairman said, "This is a turning phase for the professional education sector. Colleges in remote India and institutes of poor quality are not getting students admitted. 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 the professional college was once the pinnacle of Indian Student's career for the seats were far outnumbered by aspirants. So students often happily chose anonymous professional colleges.

IIT Director said, "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".

The problem is also linked to the slowdown, said IIM Ahmedabad, Director Samir Barua. The job market had 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 filling. But Undergraduate programmes like engineering would not feel the same tension as everyone still at least wants their first college degree," explained Barua.