Decline in Engineering aspirants

There is a continuous decline for second consecutive year of candidates aspiring for JEE (Main). Records show that at least 1,00,000 potential students for engineering did not opt for the same. In 2015, 13 lakh students opted for the JEE Mains entrance exam. This number declined to 12 lakh this year.

There could be multiple reasons for the decline. Let’s look at the potential few:

Difficult curriculum: Vast syllabus coupled with strenuous preparation requirements for exams make it tough for the students to get through the exams. Also there is lack of motivation in the classroom.

Easier alternatives: There are numerous other courses and career opportunities available which are both high-paying and quality rich. And also may not require such intense and hectic studying schedule.

Attitude of employers towards engineers: With such a high number of engineers graduating every year, there is a vast pool of engineers available for employers at their disposal. Consequently, employers tend to exploit the situation by either under-paying them or making them over-work. This attitude has also contributed to the decrement.

What should be done?

Is there a solution to this problem? Maybe, yes. Let analyze a few:

Friendly syllabus: The curriculum should be designed considering the youth in mind and should be able to motivate them.

Practical skills: The University should incorporate industry-related skill teaching content.             This will help the student to keep up-to-date with the current industry requirement.

Teaching skills: Lecturers should also be constantly trained to modify their teaching skills and update their teaching patterns so students can identify with them in a better manner.

Additional help: If students feel problem with a certain subject, additional help and guidance in form of home tuitions, private tuitions can be given. But the home tutors and private tutors should be knowledgeable and experienced and should understand student’s problems.

To make aspiring engineers are kept interested in the course, college, parents, university should actively be involved in helping them come up.