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Engineering Colleges in India Have Tens of Thousands of Vacant Seats

September 30, 2011, 9:45 am

The Indian government is considering temporarily stopping the approval of new engineering schools because India’s information-technology boom has led to the creation of thousands of new engineering colleges in the last five years and now tens of thousands of seats are vacant, reports Mail Today. The move would require the approval of the states where the vacancies exist. Currently, for example, about 30,000 seats are vacant in engineering colleges in Maharashtra state, and 45,000 are vacant in Tamil Nadu. India’s professional-education regulator approved the establishment of more than 8.500 engineering schools from 2008 to 2010.

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  • bnmoore

    That’s because two reasons: 1) India didn’t think it through and, 2) they all come to US and, to a lesser extent, Scottish universities.

  • laker

    I think that’s a rather simplistic response to a far more complex issue. I traveled extensively in India for several years, recruiting Engineering and Computer Science students. India has seen tremendous growth in the private sector of their Higher Education system, given changes in government and policy.
    The article does not address how many of those seats are in private institutions versus state universities. India has had tremendous pent up demand for engineering education, but has also had some unscrupulous operators in the private sector. How many of these opening reflect the market deciding who the winners and losers are in quality?
    India has a lot of government regulations, but the size and diversity of the country make it difficult to manage, not to mention the too common element of corruption at all levels of government.

  • lynnefox

    Wow! Once again, the shear scale of things in India boggles my mind! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=547184361 Renee Cramer

    The title of this post made me think about delaying gratification much more short-term.  Twice this semester, a factual question insignificant to our conversation, and that I couldn’t answer, has come up in my First Year Seminar on political manifestos.  Both times, nearly 1/2 the class started to go immediately to google.  Both times, I asked them to shut their lap tops and “live with not knowing” – at least for 15 to 20 more minutes.  The second time, I thought to add, “and notice your discomfort with the wait.”  If this makes them physically itchy (and it does), just think how hard it will be for them to imagine waiting 4 – 10 years (or forever!) to find a job that satisfies them, and their contradictory desires.

  • 11238317

    Yes……. I feel your pain!

  • 11291652

    This is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Children who never play never develop executive function and our kids, parked in front of TV’s and sent to schools where even in kindergarten it’s all about drill, kill and test, simply never get to play.

  • 22081781

    You hit the nail on the head, too, crunchycon.  Gasman wrote: “Much of this difficulty is the result of the society that we live in today. The combination of buying everything on credit, reality TV-instant stardom, and hyper-materialism seems to make waiting very difficult.”  But I think what you said may have an even stronger effect that rampant comsumerism on the ethos of this generation of students.  These kids are spoiled by both the K-12 system and their parents, both of whom have pumped up their egos, catered to their wishes, fought their battles for them, and paved an easy street for them to cruise through their young years.  Unfortunately, we in higher education are just continuing the trend — doing things just the please this generation, like integrating social media, mobile apps, and other techie bells and whistles into our classes, when there is no evidence that these toys increase student learning or student motivation to do the hard work to learn the material.   

  • mbelvadi

    Ah, but if we don’t please them, they’ll take their tuition money elsewhere – it’s a buyers’ market right now in most levels of higher ed except the most elite.  If we stick to our long term values, we go bankrupt, and what good would preserving those values do if we fail to financially preserve the institution that would uphold them?  This is the fundamental conundrum of higher ed in our time, and despite lots of discussion about it on this site, I’ve never seen anyone come up with a way to break through it.  The solution has to rest with the older taxpayers who would need to support those values, but time is our enemy, as the generations march on and increasingly the taxpayers/voters are themselves the spoiled generations who won’t agree with that work ethic.  It may already be too late, as the actions of so many state legislatures to financially cripple their public higher ed budgets, presumably supported by the taxpayers who elect them, would indicate.

  • jffoster

    Indeed. And children who never play without adults hovering over them never learn negotiation skills or even why negotiation is usually necessary. They just learn whining skills.

  • dpn33

    So, after we finish trashing the current generation (and their parents), how about some more constructive suggestions on how we can help college and grad students develop their understanding of reality and patience and delaying gratification? I like Renee Cramer’s spontaneous response to a classroom incident, but we don’t always have that happen. Other thoughts?

  • adjunctivitis

    I don’t agree.  There is no ladder to climb anymore for the majority of positions.  Yes, a few schools have tenure but the rest are an adjunct nation. Perhaps there is a government ladder to climb in the civil service or army. There is no ladder in the private sector. They employ you day-to-day and discard you as soon as it’s less costly to replace you. 

    I tell my students it’s a smash-and-grab world.  Say whatever it takes to get the job then take as much as you can.  I tell them they deserve it — so go for it.

    I don’t *wish* the world were this way, and it’s a disservice to tell them otherwise.  I also get topnotch evaluations which keeps the adjunct cash rolling in.

    “Winning.”

  • rrowlett

    College students should remember two things that will serve them well:
    1. Confidence comes from mastery, not the other way ’round. And mastery takes time.
    2. There is always a shortage of excellent people in any endeavor. To succeed, don’t plan on being average.

  • johnadamdrew

    Rob Evans, a psychologist I work with has a great aphorism related to this issue: we need more parents who will “prepare their child for the path rather than prepare the path for their child.”

  • punkassninja

    Great article!  This definitely is a major problem amongst the current generation.  When they email me at 1 AM and are miffed when they don’t get a response by 9 AM (because I’m asleep, like normal people, and not sleeping with my phone under my pillow), how will they ever have the patience to “climb the ladder”.  I remember doing unpaid internships during all three of my degrees and understanding that this “grunt” work would pay off in the end.  And it did.

  • semccoy21

    Learning, like success, is a lifetime process. All electronic media messages have a beginning and ending wrapped into 3, 30, 120, and etc. minute units. What other media requires patience and reflection? Reading, the skill that brought enlightenment to the world.

  • crunchycon

    I disagree with you.  I have witnessed many students (from the current generation) whose careers took them outside academe start at the proverbally bottom and, through hard work, initiative and attitude, be rewarded, both through increased pay and promotion (i.e., next job up the proverbial ladder) for these character traits.

    The notion that “they deserve it” is outrageous.   What have “they” done to “deserve” ANYthing?  You are a disservice to your students.  Perhaps your bitterness at (still?) being an adjunct have colored your perceptions.  You promote dishonesty and greed, self-importance and narcissism.  You may view the world this way, but it isn’t that way for many people, and they will be the ones who are “discard(ed)” — and the factor may, rather, be “more productive” than “less costly”.

  • semccoy21

    Your philosophy is astonishing. The concept of lifetime employment has always been overgeneralized. You are useful to an employer as long as you add value over the cost of your employment. Any other model is doomed to failure.

    Perhaps if you were actually gainfully employed you would understand. Adjuncts are temporary employees, live with it.

  • mbelvadi

    Apparently not, if the ex-student defines success in terms of buying an expensive car.

  • wayoutwest

    Kids today with their rap music and skinny jeans and vampires…and don’t get me started on that awful Snooki!…and their Frisbees always endin’ up in my yard…trampled my azaleas the other day, they did. No sense of personal responsibility these days.

    I guess this means that the baby boomers failed as parents and stewards of society?

    I agree that millennials have a generational issue with feeling entitled to everything immediately, but boomers’ abdication of responsibility for this generation’s shortcomings is far more worthy of an article.

  • mxims

    This article, in which I can see the attitudes of so many students I’ve encountered, points to the value of service learning.  Projects in which students give to the community, while furthering their knowledge of the world around them, are an excellent way for them to learn the value of hard work, the satisfaction of working through a process, and the patience that is mandatory to accomplish anything in a less than perfect universe.  Had the student mentioned in the article engaged in a service learning or volunteer effort with “underprivileged children,” he would have realized fairly quickly that you lose all respect, credibility, and cooperation with the people you say you want to help if you flaunt a “have” lifestyle in the face of a “have-not” population.  He reminds me of one of my non-service learning students who proudly proclaimed, “I want to become a corporate attorney because I want a job where I don’t have to do a lot of writing.”

  • adjunctivitis

    I agree, adjuncts are temporary employees.  They are a product of the same educational system as full-time faculty, followed the same rules, and look at the same academic ladder.  So, the dictate to work hard, follow the rules and you will be rewarded doesn’t pan out for everyone. They are looked down upon, as your post illustrates.  So, here’s the question — if an institution essentially employs a majority of its faculty as adjuncts, what lessons would they expect them to teach?

    The bottom line is that I tell my students I’m paid less than the price of a fancy latte to teach them per week.  That’s right, they spend more on coffee than I get paid.  They are astonished and angry that mere pennies of their tuition goes to adjunct faculty salaries.  I also tell them that I teach as a hobby, which I do, because I have other work in a world that’s smash-and-grab.

  • adjunctivitis

    Some do climb a ladder. As I indicated, there are cases in the military and government.  There may be some “lifers” at corporations, but that’s the exception, not the rule.  I also caution them that should that ladder change, they have to be prepared to smash and grab their way to a new position.

    I am in no way bitter. I teach because I feel I have important lessons to share with the youth of America. How is it dishonest to tell students that they can/will be downsized in favor of cheaper foreign labor? How is it greedy to smash and grab as long as that’s how the process is working? Self-importance and narcissism — we *never* see that in our great leaders.  (Smile)

  • http://twitter.com/industrialist00 Ante Williams

    Unfortunately, I struggle with this as well and I will admit it does have a lot to do with today’s society.  Society glorifies black cards, expensive jewelery and exotic trips. Now, waiting on some things comes easy to me, but with other things, waiting can seem like its taking forever. When it comes to careers, making a lot of money would be great, but I would much rather have a job that I love doing and making what I consider to be a reasonable wage. But a key tip that you mentioned is learn from mentors and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS remain teachable!

  • proftowanda

    Reading is required to, well, read electronic media messages.

    Which term did you mean?

  • duppy_conqueror

    If they had found a more attractive candidate, do you think you would be getting multiple phone calls from them apologizing and stumbling over their words for having done so?

  • rw526

    I’m wondering if it is appropriate to notify a school that you are declining their offer in the form of an email. I personally am so much better at crafting my words and putting together a well-stated, professional email, than trying to explain something difficult like this over the phone. As others have said, I found myself just stumbling over my words and not being able to clearly express the reasons behind my decision or my gratitude for their time and consideration of my candidacy. I know a phone call is always more personable, but when the tables are turned and we’re the ones receiving the rejection, don’t we always receive the news by letter or email? Shouldn’t it then be appropriate for us to use a written medium to communicate our rejection of a position?

  • cleverclogs

    I agree – it’s just rude to keep the institution hanging on. And in fact, I think there should be a time limit. I think if a candidate can’t tell the school “yes” within, say, a week, then the school should feel within their rights to rescind the offer and move on. As you say, there are lots of qualified candidates and if second-choice candidate wants the position more badly than first-choice candidate, then second-choice is probably a better fit.

    By the same token, I think committees should be duty-bound to make a decision within three days of the final interviewee’s campus visit. All it says to me when I’m kept waiting is that the place is disorganized.

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