| Quizzed on the sharp decline in the number of students enrolling in government-run engineering colleges allegedly owing to poor quality education, Rajesh Tope, state minister for higher and technical education, tried to defend his position and the ministry's in a telephonic interview with Kanchan Srivastava on Friday:
Q) Enrollment in engineering institutes across Maharashtra has declined in past 3-4 years with one third of the seats falling vacant. How will the state achieve the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) target of 35 per cent by 2020?
A) GER doesn't depend only on engineering courses. It also includes enrollment in general courses. Besides, we have already achieved a 27.5 per cent GER and will be able to reach 35 per cent by 2020.
Q) Poor quality of education is being cited as the main reason for a high number of vacancies in technical institutes. What measures you have taken to address this issue?
A) Quality is a big concern. That's why we have given a go ahead to private universities now. We are trying to fill up 1,000 teachers' posts lying vacant in state-owned engineering and diploma institutes. Appointments of over 500 posts have been cleared and rest will be filled soon.
Q) What stopped you from establishing a full-fledged technological university – the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University (BATU) at Lonere?
A) We were busy creating law universities and other projects so we couldn't concentrate on BATU. We are now in the process of appointing a vice-chancellor and regional centres. The affiliation of colleges with BATU would take off after that. |