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The Hindu
30-06-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
Preserving conventional engineering programs while embracing AI, Data Science
At many private engineering colleges, the number of batches for conventional B.E. or B. Tech programs such as Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, and Civil Engineering are being shut down. The reasons is there's less demand from students and parents for these courses. As a result, several faculty members from Electrical, Chemical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering departments at such institutes may well have to resign sooner than later. At the same time, several batches in B.E. in AI and Data Science and B.E. in AI and Machine Learning programs have been introduced. New programs in AI are meant to secure more capitation fees for these institutes. Instead of this approach of closing entire programs, students need to be encouraged to take three or four courses in AI, ML, Natural Language Processing, and databases in every branch of conventional engineering. The Computer Science and Engineering program should be strengthened through specialisations in AI, DS, and ML. (CSE) can be offered as an honours degree with additional courses in AI, ML, and DS. Students should be well educated in AI fundamentals, going beyond merely using ML code. Department closures In the report put out by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) on approved institutions with progressive closed courses for the academic year 2021-2022, 387 departments of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electronics, and Instrumentation were closed for the admission of first-year students. Similarly, in 2020-2021, 639 departments closed, and for 2019-2020, 661 departments closed for the admission of first-year students. From 2016 to 2019, 950 departments were closed. From 2013 to 2016, 1,003 departments were closed. Within the subsequent two years, all the faculty in these 3,640 departments could be asked to resign. The impact The closures of such conventional engineering programs can affect the industrial and human resource growth of our country. It will also be tough for these experienced faculty members to survive without jobs. If an engineering program admits no students in the first year, it won't have students for the program in subsequent years till the final year. Hence, the department could be closed. Faculty could be asked to leave the college accordingly. This has already started. The faculty-to-student ratio is fixed. Hence, faculty members are being asked to leave year-wise. The country requires capable Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Civil Engineers, Chemical Engineers, and Computer Science Engineers for its industrial growth. Hence, it is not a good idea to discontinue these programs. At the IITs and NITs, the conventional engineering programs continue to be offered. One of the key components of the technical education system in India is that it comprises a large number of private engineering institutions, about 6,000 spread over various parts of the country, with around 20 lakh students, and about six lakh faculty members. It is not necessary to introduce new and exclusive programmes on AI and Machine learning; they can be offered as modules in existing conventional programmes. The AICTE and the Ministry of Higher Education guarantee should ensure that conventional engineering programs continue to be taught in private engineering colleges. (M. Chidambaram is a retired professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras. He has also served as Director of NIT - Trichy)
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
State to conduct second CET, colleges worried about delay in academic year
Mumbai: The state government's decision on Friday to hold a second Common Entrance Test (CET) for professional undergraduate courses like Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelors of Arts (BA), Bachelors of Management Studies (BMS), Bachelors of Mass Media (BMM) and Bachelors of Computer Applications (BCA) has triggered concerns of delaying academic year due to another round of CET, among parents and college principals. The move comes after only 61,666 students appeared for the CET this year, conducted between April 29 and 30, whereas there are over 1,08,000 seats available across the professional undergraduate programmes in the state. With such a large shortfall in applicants, many colleges fear that a significant number of seats could remain vacant this academic year. After the poor response from the students for CET, the management of various colleges approached the state government to hold one more round of CET to fill the vacant seats. Chandrakant Patil, minister of higher and technical education, announced the second CET on Friday for the students who missed the first CET. However, this fresh round of testing is expected to take at least one more month. Parents and colleges are concerned about the uncertainty in the timeline and outcomes of the second CET, which could delay the start of the upcoming academic year. 'Students are anxious due to the delay, and another round of CET will only add to the confusion. We don't know when the session will start or whether all seats will be filled,' said a principal from a suburban college. According to the National Education Policy (NEP), the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) regulates admissions into all professional undergraduate courses in the country. This mandates the colleges offering these courses to admit students through CET. From academic year 2024-25, these courses came under the purview of the AICTE as per NEP. In 2024, the University of Mumbai decided to change the nomenclature of the professional undergraduate programmes to allow the colleges to admit students into the professional courses based on class 12 scores and move away from the CET gateway for admissions. The decision was taken in the wake of requests put forth by several affiliated colleges not willing to follow AICTE regulations. Those colleges wishing to continue with the old name of BMS would have to admit students based on the scores of the CET scheduled by the state's Common Entrance Test (CET) cell. Many top colleges, including St. Xavier's College, renamed BMS to BCom (Management Studies) and BCA to BSc (Computer Applications) to move away from CET. However, there are many colleges across the state that have decided to go ahead with the CET for the courses. 'This entire process is going to affect the upcoming academic year. The second CET will take at least another month to complete, and only then can student admissions begin. Many students who appeared for the BMS CET have already taken admission in traditional degree courses. Once they secure a seat in professional courses, they will cancel those earlier admissions. This back-and-forth is likely to leave many seats vacant in colleges,' said a principal of a college in Malad, expressing concern over the revised admission process and pointing out that the delay dissolves the purpose of early declaration of class 12 results to start higher education on time. Meanwhile, the government is also exploring the option of scrapping the CET altogether for these professional courses, possibly allowing colleges to admit students based on their Class 12 marks instead. Experts pointed out that if the government wishes this change, it will be possible only in the next academic year, not this one.
