Every year the Directorate of Technical Education releases the pass percentage of affiliated engineering colleges before counselling begins. This is to enable aspirants to choose colleges wisely based on the performance of students graduating from each institution.
Of the 392 non-autonomous colleges featured in the list this year, the pass percentage is over 90 in just nine colleges. In 124 colleges, the figure is 30% or even lower, and in 129 colleges, the pass percentage is 50. Among these colleges are some that have been closed and just a handful of students took the end semester exams.
K.E. Raghunathan, who represents the Association of Indian Entrepreneurs, said the list reflects how many of the non-autonomous engineering colleges were producing students with poor knowledge that renders them unemployable. According to him, it is not lack of employment opportunities but the inability to employ candidates as there is a “huge gap between what is expected and what is being produced.”
A former placement officer with a university who currently works with colleges to train students under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme, however, said there was no direct correlation between academic performance and employability. “The intervention is to enhance employability skills and has nothing to do with academic performance. The candidates who have completed coursework will benefit as they will already have the required skill sets,” he said.
According to him, when colleges begin the placement process later this year, data on the success of the intervention will become known. “We will be able to compare the number of students who are placed this year versus last year,” he added.
Delayed counselling
This year, the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) Committee has decided to wait until the first round of counselling for MBBS is conducted before starting their own single-window counselling. The State is awaiting the Standard Operating Procedures from the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), which conducts counselling for seats surrendered under the All-India Quota, central institutions and deemed universities.
As per the Supreme Court verdict, classes for first year medical students must commence on August 1. State medical education officials believe they will be able to complete the first round of counselling as mandated. The concern is filling the seats under the stray round. While DGHS has sufficient time to complete the process, the State medical education departments will be forced to rush through it.
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