The Hindu Business Line : `Huge regional imbalances in access to engg education'

HUGE regional imbalances in providing access to engineering education and dearth of quality human resources are some of the issues that would be discussed at the third annual convention of the Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (APAS) here tomorrow.

"The South accounts for 50 per cent of the total intake of about four lakh admissions into engineering colleges in the five zones of the country, while the North-East and some northern States like Bihar lack sufficient number of colleges," Dr K.V. Raghavan, President of APAS, said.

Addressing newsmen here, he said projections for the total intake would go up to eight lakh by 2010 as against the present four lakh. "During the period, the number of unemployed engineering graduates will grow to 2.9 lakh from 0.6 lakh," he said.

"There are huge regional imbalances. They need to be corrected," Dr Raghavan said. "There is a lack of quality human resources too. Expansion of engineering colleges highlights the need for more quality human resources to improve quality of education. The meeting will recommend on issues related to curriculum too."

Besides addressing several current issues related to engineering science, the convention would focus on improving quality education. The meet, which will be inaugurated by Dr R. Natarajan, Chairman of All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), would have representatives from the industry and academic institutions as speakers.

APAS and Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT) are jointly organising the convention.

Dr B.N. Reddy, Chairman of Chaitanya Bharati Educational Society (CBES), said the meet would deal with convergence of engineering subjects and science.

Mr D. Kamalakar Reddy, Secretary and Correspondent of CBES, said the society would strive for attaining autonomy and at a later stage the status of deemed university.

"The AICTE, too, is of the opinion that the institutes run by the society are eligible to become autonomous," he said.

"The philanthropic institute is now worth Rs 20 crore, with a strong research and development wing. We have signed memorandum of understandings with 15 industries," he said.

The institute has also tied up with the UK-based Wolverhampton University to offer a three-year degree course. "The students study for two years here and, then, proceed to the UK varsity to complete the course. They will get a certificate from that university," Dr B.N. Reddy said. According to him, the University of Texas too had shown interest in forging an alliance with the institute.

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