Bhubaneswar, July 13: There is a growing concern about large number of seats remaining vacant in engineering colleges this year too.

There are 105 engineering colleges in the state, of which seven are run by the government and 95, including two deemed universities, by private management.

The three others are National Institute of Technology in Rourkela, Indian Institute of Technology and International Institute of Information Technology, both in Bhubaneswar.

Last year, more than 18,000 seats remained vacant even after conducting two Orissa Joint Entrance Examinations (OJEE) and three rounds of admissions. The year before 9,000 seats were vacant.

Experts attribute the glaring number of vacancies to the disproportionate ratio between students passing out of Plus Two science colleges and number of seats in engineering colleges. “While 41,368 science students cleared the Plus Two exams, there are around 43,000 available seats at present,” said Binod Dash, secretary of Orissa Private Engineering Colleges Association (OPECA). On the other hand, there are more around 550 colleges across the state offering Plus Two science.

“From 2001 to 2010, the number of seats in Plus Two science increased by only 392. Last year, 3,752 seats were added. “However, the engineering seats has gone up from 8,000 in 29 colleges in 2001 to nearly 43,000 in 105 colleges in 2011. The growth in engineering colleges has been unnaturally high, instead of being slow and steady,” Dash said.

In its report, Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), which regulates these technical colleges, had pointed out last July that the number of engineering seats in the state increased by 50 per cent in 2009-10, but the number of students taking admission increased by only 10 per cent. In 2009 alone, 33 colleges were added to the existing 62 tech colleges.

According to R.N. Panda, principal of Institute of Higher Secondary Education, Bhubaneswar, nearly 14,000 to 18,000 seats in engineering colleges would “definitely remain vacant” this year.

“The Plus Two results have been worse in comparison with last year’s.

“There should be lesser seats in engineering colleges, which would encourage competition among aspirants. At the same time, this would ensure quality as the deserving students would be considered for admission,” Panda said.

It has been found that only those who secure first and second division in the Plus Two science opt for the Orissa-JEE examination. Only a few passing in third division evince interest in engineering branches.

“Many students migrate to other cities for better institutes, many who have not performed well drop a year to reappear for the entrance exams while some others opt for BSc or switch over to other courses,” said a government official dealing with technical education.

The official said earlier several students from other states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Bengal used to come to the state for engineering degrees but they prefer only the top-notch institutes affiliated to BPUT or one of the two deemed universities — Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) — which offer around 3,500 engineering seats.

Panda said since most of the new engineering colleges did not have proper infrastructure such as adequate faculty and laboratory facilities, many students prefer to move out of the state.

Although Dash feels the number of vacancies would be lower than that of last year’s, there are a number of steps that the government must take to ensure that all seats are filled up. “The Plus Two exam pattern must be revamped so that students can score on par with students of CBSE or ICSE schools. The quality of education in primary and secondary levels should be improved. Seats must be increased at the Plus Two level. The government also should encourage us to market ourselves to get students from other states,” Dash said.