1K tech institutes, 12K courses cease in 10 yrs

CHENNAI: Following a major dip in demand for technical courses in the last 10 years, as many as 916 technical institutions were closed down in India while 11,919 technical branches were discontinued, shows data from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), accessed by DT Next. The most affected is Telangana, with 144 institutes shut down, while 74 technical institutions were closed in Tamil Nadu.

The data between the academic year 2012-2013 and 2021-2022 shows a major dip in demand for engineering and other technical courses across the country. In 2012-2013 AY, 74 technical institutions were shut in the country and 468 technical branches were closed. The data also suggests that the number of courses discontinued has also gone down sharply.

In 2013-2014 AY, 111 engineering colleges and other technical institutions affiliated with AICTE were shut down in India, and three in Tamil Nadu. For the remaining years, the India-TN numbers are 77-12 (2014-2015), 126-12 (2015-2016), 163-12 (2016-2017), 134-13 (2017-2018), 89-10 (2018-2019), 92-8 (2019-2020), 43-4 (2020-2021), 7-0 (2021-2022) have shut shops.

According to the data, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab are witnessing a high fall in demand when compared to other states. So far, 144 technical institutions were shut down in Telangana.

Likewise, 468 technical courses were discontinued in 2012-2013 across India. It was 1,044 in 2021-2022, 468 (2012-13), 912 (2013-14), 604 (2014-15), 1,093 (2015-16), 686 (2016-17), 1,445 (2017-18), 1,011 (2018-19), 2,444 (2019-20), 2,212 (2020-21), and 1,044 in 2021-2022.

Fewer takers, more vacant seats, a boom in new emerging courses such as AI, Robotics, and Machine Learning, and a focus on the Arts and Science Colleges are the factors attributed to the decline of technical institutions or the reduction in the number of technical courses, said an official from the state higher education department.

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