The days of third-year students of private engineering colleges landing plum jobs will soon be over.

The West Bengal University of Technology, to which the private colleges are affiliated, is planning to restrict campus placement to students of the final — or fourth — year.

The university will soon call a meeting with industry representatives to finalise the new system.

In the present system, employers are allowed to recruit third-year students.

The university is planning the new move as most third-year students, after getting a good job, tend to neglect their studies in the final year. This results in a decline in the standard of education of the private colleges.

“The system needs to be changed immediately. Students who land prized jobs in their third year often neglect their studies in the final year,” said university registrar Syed Rafiqul Islam.

“Most students are content to score only the pass mark in the final year, as the recruiters consider only the third-year scores,” said a teacher of a private engineering college.

“But this practice will harm the students’ career, as several important topics are taught in the final year. One needs to master these topics to be successful in the profession,” the teacher added.

With the rise in the demand for fresh engineering graduates, especially in the IT sector, companies vie with each other to pick the best brains from the tech campuses. To stay ahead in the race, most firms prefer to complete their recruitment in advance, opting for third-year students.

The system is also followed in “premier institutes”, like Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University.

But the authorities of these institutions have enough administrative and academic control over the departments to ensure that final-year students attend their classes regularly.

The authorities also closely monitor the students’ performance.

But the West Bengal University of Technical Education is not in a position to enforce such monitoring, as the students are all enrolled in affiliated colleges.