Since 15 years back, Engineering Education were confined to State owned or Govt aided or Govt. controlled institutions and the seats were so limited that the admissions to those were done based on strict merit among real aspirants. The rapid developments in the field of technology opened many fold opportunities for engineering graduates which could not be catered by the Government institutions alone. On the other hand, many entrepreneurs saw this as a business opportunity coupled with social responsibility, which resulted in the concept of Private Self Financing Engineering Colleges which have since then mushroomed. The number of Engineering Colleges at the dawn of independence in 1947 was 44 with an intake of 2500. In the early eighties, Govt. allowed private participation in the setting of technical institutions on the basis of self financing .According to the AICTE, approximately 440,000 students were enrolled in first-level engineering degree programs in 2004-05, 265,000 at the diploma level, and 33,000 at the master’s level. By comparison, the seven IITs had a total of 25,000 students enrolled at all levels in 2002-03 (Rao report). Figures capturing the annual number of graduating engineers are a little harder to come by; however, a 2005 study by Washington, D.C.-based National Academies estimates that 200,000 students graduate each year from first-level engineering programs across the country (revised from an original estimate of 350,000). A study by researchers at Duke University pegs the number slightly higher at 215,000 but notes that almost half are graduating from three-year diploma programs.
By comparison, the National Academies estimates that U.S. institutions graduate 70,000 engineering students annually, while approximately 100,000 students graduate from institutions in the European Union. In China, that number is close to 640,000, of which approximately 350,000 graduate from bachelor programs and 290,000 from short-cycle associate-equivalent programs.
In 2002-03, the seven IITs together graduated 2,275 B.Techs, 3,675 M.Techs and 445 Ph.D.s, with 11,700 undergraduates (four-year program), 9,500 graduate students and 3,800 doctoral students. Taking the Duke estimate of 215,000 first-level engineering graduates, IIT bachelor of technology graduates represent just 1 percent of the total graduating class of Indian engineers each year.
Education policy is formulated by a number of bodies under the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE). In engineering and other technical disciplines, the central policymaking and regulatory body are the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The AICTE determines the requirements for new universities and programs of study and outlines curriculum standards and norms. It also accredits programs through the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
The main source of funding for public universities and colleges comes from the central and state government in the form of grants, with a small percentage derived from fees. Indian education observers frequently note that many higher education institutions are underfunded, especially in the technology sector, where labs and classrooms are often under-resourced and understaffed.
Booming growth in the number of technical institutions has led to particularly acute issues and concerns for the engineering sector, where colleges are struggling to hire adequately qualified faculty, graduates are failing to find employment, and regulators are under pressure to improve standards. This article will take a closer look at the challenges confronting the Indian engineering sector after first highlighting some of India’s top engineering schools.
Top Engineering Institutions
Indian Institutes of Technology
The central government administers and funds India’s central universities and institutions of national importance (INI). When compared to other public institutions of higher education, the INIs are well funded and have extraordinarily competitive entrance requirements. Undoubtedly the best known of the 13 INIs are the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).The IITs are widely considered to offer the highest-quality technology and engineering programs in India, especially at the undergraduate level. The five original IITs were established between 1950 and 1961 (Kharagpur, 1950; Bombay, 1958; Madras, 1959; Kanpur, 1960; Delhi, 1961). With strong backing from India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the IIT network set out to help modernize India by creating a highly educated workforce able to complete many of the civil and mechanical engineering projects required to meet the needs of the country’s growing population. Not only did the five IITs help accomplish this, but they also built themselves a global reputation in the process that has allowed generations of alumni to find high-profile and extraordinarily well-paying positions at companies around the world. Building on the success of the global brand, IIT Guwahati was established in 1995, and in 2002, IIT Roorkee was established with the upgrade of the University of Roorkee. In a ranking of Asia’s best science and technology institutions by Asiaweek in 2000, the original five IITs were among the continent’s top eight institutions.
It is ironic, however, that the success of the IITs also has caused a number of the Indian technical sector’s shortcomings: the exodus of top manpower overseas, the failure of many bachelors of technology graduates to seek careers in their areas of specialization and the forging of a two-tier system of higher education, which, at the top, is overrepresented by male students largely from well-to-do backgrounds.
National Institutes of Technology
In addition to upgrading Roorkee University in 2002, the government also decided to convert its stock of 17 tier-II engineering institutions — the Regional Engineering Colleges (REC) — to a status similar to that enjoyed by the IITs. The newly designated National Institutes of Technology (NITs), of which there are currently 20, enjoy the same autonomy over curriculum and governance as IITs, and as institutions “Deemed-to-be universities,” award their own degrees.In a bid to promote regional development, the government aims to establish an NIT in each state and union territory of the country. Whereas the RECs were funded jointly by state governments and the central government, NIT funding has been increased and is provided exclusively by the central government. Below is a current list of NITs:
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar
S.V. National Institute of Technology, Surat
Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal
Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad
National Institute of Technology, Agartala
National Institute of Technology, Calicut
National Institute of Technology, Durgapur
National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur
National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur
National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra
National Institute of Technology, Patna
National Institute of Technology, Raipur
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela
National Institute of Technology, Silchar
National Institute of Technology, Srinagar
National Institute of Technology, Trichy
National Institute of Technology, Warangal
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
Other deemed and central universities that enjoy reputations as top engineering schools include:
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani (which also has campuses in Goa and Dubai)
Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (DIT), New Delhi
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Allahabad
Punjab Engineering College
Delhi College of Engineering
The Banaras Hindu University Institute of Technology
Aligarh Muslim University
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