Engineering colleges
What was the sample size of engineering colleges?
For the purpose of our analysis, we spoke to a cross section of stakeholders in this segment including engineering colleges, professors and academicians, corporate sand regulators. In total, we touched base with close to 60 market participants.
What was the pan India average of occupancy rate in engineering colleges? Which states had the highest occupancy rate and what were the reasons for the same?
The pan-India average of occupancy rate in engineering colleges was around 67 per cent in 2011-12. states such as Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have higher than pan-India average occupancy rate on account of the fact that the number of colleges in these states is still low as compared to the top 6 states, and demand for engineering still exists. In fact, the top 6 states together account for around 65 per cent of the total seats on offer.
What factors affected states with lower occupancy rate in engineering colleges?
The factors that have predominantly affected the occupancy rate in colleges are the significant increase in seats on offer to students and relatively poor quality of education imparted to students in several colleges as reflected in the weak placement for these institutes.
The number of engineering seats increased by approximately 250% from 2006 to 2011. Has this had an effect on quality of engineering education?
The quality of education has indeed suffered as many colleges lack the requisite infrastructure, faculty, and industry link ups, which are necessary to offer good quality of education to students.
How did you measure employability of engineering students and what were the key findings in the same?
Employability of engineering student is defined by the minimum possible training time for the student to be job ready and start working. During our interactions, we came across the fact that most of the companies are spending significant time and cost in order to train students and thus, the low employability of students. Corporates for that matter are finding that several students from the lower tier colleges are not employable directly due to poor technical and/or soft skills and thus, the weak placement record for these colleges.
What is the future for engineering institutes with low occupancy rates? Will they manage to survive?
With low occupancy rate, colleges will find it difficult to survive. We have come across some instances where colleges have closed down completely or closed down a branch where the demand for the same was low. With more options to students, the colleges with better quality of education being imparted will be able to survive. For instance, we came across a case wherein a college which has been in operation since the past 8-10 years witnessed 40-50 per cent occupancy whereas a college that had recently started operations in the last 2-3 years witnessed 70-80 per cent occupancy.
What changes do you expect in engineering education in India?
The current scenario in the higher education space in India is currently marked by more of quantity than quality. For the quality of education to be improved, colleges will have to invest in recruiting skilled faculty, establish stronger industry link ups and tailor their curriculum as per the requirements of the corporate world.
Business schools
What was the sample size of business schools?
For the purpose of our analysis, we spoke to a cross section of stakeholders in this segment including engineering colleges, professors and academicians, corporates and regulators. In total, we touched base with close to 40 market participants.
Do you think the emergence of many business schools in a short time has hurt management education in India?
No, the emergence of many business schools has not hurt management education in India. On the contrary, there is increasing awareness today about the quality of education being impacted by different b-schools, which will over a period of time help students take more informed decisions. B-schools that focus on imparting quality education, developing the all round skill set of students and forging relevant partnerships with industry would continue to do well.
Do you think management institutes in India have to rethink their expansion plans?
Currently, most of the colleges in the country are increasing their intake capacities. It is imperative for the lower rung colleges to first create a brand name and then go for expansion as students today are much better informed and more concerned about the quality of education provided to them than just getting a post graduate degree.
Will the influx of foreign business schools affect the lower ranked business schools in India?
Yes, it will because quality of education provided is expected to play a major role going forward, and thus colleges which are not able to improve the quality of education provided will face the heat as far as occupancy level is concerned. However, as such, the number of foreign business schools that would enter India would not be very large.
What changes are required in management education in India?
The state of business schools in India is currently marked by shortage of skilled faculty and lack of industry interactions. We believe that colleges will have to align the curriculum offered with what is required by corporates and provide students with more real life illustrations to give the students a firsthand view of the problems that they might face at the work place. The focus has to shift from merely filling seats to developing the skill sets of students.
Mr Ajay Srinivasan Head, CRISIL Reasearch leads a team of analysts, who cover the banking and financial services, telecom, media, information technology, education and textiles sectors. Ajay holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and Masters in Management from the Mumbai University. He has also passed all three levels of the CFA Program offered by the CFA Institute, USA.
Image Source: Flickr
