Has CET outlived its utility? Part 1
All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has mandated that every student aspiring to commence education in engineering should qualify in a selection test. This was, ostensibly, prescribed to ensure that only deserving candidates get selected to undergo engineering education which was acknowledged as a prestigious course some decades back.
In line with this direction, some all India level tests such as, IIT JEE, AIEEE and some state level common entrance tests by different state Governments are being held year after year. In the early years of growth of engineering education in India, there was an acute shortage of engineering seats and distribution of seats was on the basis of donations and capitation. There was a need for Govt’s intervention to install a centralized selection and allocation of seats through a regulated admission process. The state Govts had to step in to ensure that the available engineering seats are distributed equitably to all sections of the society in a fair manner, as per merit and other social considerations. In doing so, Govts have built up a bureaucratic strangle hold on the admission process. In the guise of protecting the interest of the common man, politicians in power and the Govt machinery have taken absolute control of a system that dictates fees to be charged and allocates seats to colleges in the state in a routine manner.
Today, the engineering admission scenario in Karnataka is far from the reasons which warranted a Govt monitored model. The demand for engineering seats is far less than the capacity created over the years. For instance, as per Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), in the year 2011 nearly 22000 seats went abegging and remained unfilled. This is equivalent of 50 colleges. These are not seats in Govt colleges but capacity created by private colleges. It may probably argued that if the preference pattern of the students have changed, Govt cannot be blamed for that and certainly not the ‘CET system’ that the bureaucracy had designed. But what is not understood in this argument is to know, who are affected by this fall in admission. Has this centralized system ensured that the burden of 22000 seats is shared by all colleges equally? No; the burden is entirely transferred to colleges which are treated as “untouchables”. There was a media report that after 2011 CET, about 10 colleges in Karnataka had zero admission from CET and even some of them had to down their shutters, being unviable.
What are these untouchable colleges? I will discuss more about the prevailed “CET system” in my next article and will continue this discussion.
About the Author;
Engineering Colleges in Bangalore
This article has been written by Col NPR Babu(Retd), Director Academics at SCT Institute of Technology, offers Engineering, Management and MCA course in Bangalore. SCT Institute of Technology is leading Engineering Colleges in Bangalore.
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