IIT-B report that got Sibal thinking

Though private engineering colleges account for 75% of engineering graduates in the country, their teaching standards leave much to be desired, as can be gauged from the fact that an estimated 30% of fresh graduates are unemployed even a year after graduation.

These are the findings of a report by IIT-Bombay professors Rangan Banerjee and Vinayak P Muley. Completed in 2007, it has now been published as a book titled ‘Engineering Education in India’, which was released recently by Union human resources and development minister Kapil Sibal.

“Over 90% of private engineering colleges are sub-critical in terms of faculty and infrastructure, mainly because they are affiliated to universities, which constrains them by lack of academic and financial flexibility. Revenues from fees are capped, despite being the main source of income. Moreover, salaries account for about 80% of the total budget,” the report says. The authors have profiled three private institutes and concluded that “they are successful models…[since] all have autonomy”. 

These findings prompted Sibal to announce that all educational institutions should be freed from affiliation, and should become autonomous. He said this would enable them to think independently and concentrate on research.

While estimating that 1,100 new engineering colleges are needed by 2017, the report cautions that the focus should not just be on numbers, but also on quality.

“Create new engineering colleges through public-private partnerships. The present model for private engineering colleges is unlikely to build long-term quality engineering institutions,” it says.

The report suggests looking for other funding models. One recommended model is creating a public-private corpus that entails commitment by the government towards grant-in-aid, and commitment by the promoter to provide funds needed to compensate any annual budget deficit.

The authors have recommended enhancing the output of tier-1 institutions like the IITs which are now contributing to less than 1% of engineering graduates in the country.