Even as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments are at loggerheads on the fee reimbursement for Eamcet (engineering, agriculture and medical common entrance exam) admissions and have taken the sensitive issue to the judicial dispensation, most of the serious students are eyeing admissions outside the state.
Last year while the counselling process was allowed up to Oct-Nov, making both students and tutors to finish the curriculum in haste, this year politics over nativity in the bifurcated state is posing a serious threat to the students. The year before, Telangana agitation cost the academics dearly.
In the midst of all these, serious students have been making a beeline for reputed engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab. Many colleges in these states have established offices here to reach to the students besides the entry of high-profile industry-backed private universities.
Attracting student interest are the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), SRM College, Madras University, Loyola College, Annamalai university in Tamil Nadu; Manipal University in Bengaluru; Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Technology in Gujarat, Delhi University and Panjab University.
Educationist and reformist Chukka Ramaiah said, "Around 40 per cent of students across colleges affiliated to universities in Chennai are Telugu-speaking."
Last year, around 30,000 students sought admissions in other states owing to delay in counselling and a drop in campus placements. "This year, we had 40 per cent more applications from Andhra students in our university," said an official from Vellore Institute.
At one point, the united state was spending around Rs 4,000 crore on student fee reimbursement for professional college admissions. Academic year usually begins here by August first week but now this is seeing delay and may go up till October. On the other hand, other states start academic year by mid-August.
"Andhra students prefer universities that start the academic year early and those which offer better campus placements,"said Mewar University vice-chancellor Ashok Kumar Gadiya. Rajasthan-based Mewar University has enrolled 1,000 students from the state in the academic year 2013-14.
Created to support manpower for the thriving manufacturing and services sectors in the united state, the fee reimbursement measure has failed to retain their interest. Instead, the scheme created artificial demand for new private colleges, which mushroomed bereft of quality infrastructure and research ecosystem.
As against 320 engineering colleges including state-funded institutions as on 2008 in united Andhra Pradesh, the number swelled to around 800 by 2011. However, in the last three years, with a slump in the market, private engineering colleges had been applying for closures with the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). According to AICTE data, total colleges in the united state as on February 2014, stood at 710. Academicians say there should be an optimal 350 colleges in the state.
While the overall student interest in the initial years shot up along with the state's urge to allocate more under the scheme, quality education took a spin. Over the years, lack of seriousness in holding a time-bound counselling process has wiped out even the slightest advantage to study in the state.
"Campus recruiters cite lack of communication skills and industry interface among the students here," says JNTU vice chancellor Rameshwar Rao.
Private sector education consultants say universities in other states will reap rich dividends this year as both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are locked in a court dispute over the nativity of students.
Corporate India with a clear mandate is foraying into the business of market-oriented professional education. Among them are diversified Mahindra Group, which has set up a college in Hyderabad in partnership with Ecole of France; Woxsen school of business that has a greenfield facility here and GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, which has tied up with a Canadian university.
Speaking to Business Standard,Aditya Narayan Mishra, president-staffing at Randstad, said companies preferred university students who can immediately be absorbed into operations.
According to a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) study on human resources, only 15 per cent of engineering graduates in the state are employable.
