Hyderabad: The Telangana government has initiated steps to regulate the mushrooming of engineering and teacher training colleges in the state.

The state churns out thousands of engineering and teacher graduates every year though there are not enough job opportunities available in these sectors in Telangana.

The state Cabinet, which met at the Secretariat on Friday, had a long discussion regarding the measures that should be taken to create awareness among students and parents about not to opt for engineering and teaching courses in the new academic year thinking that these degrees would guarantee employment after completion, irrespective of attaining the required professional skills or not.

The government wants to discourage such students from opting for these courses in the new academic year by taking up awareness programmes.

The government has been under tremendous pressure from B.Ed./ D.Ed. qualified students to issue teacher recruitment notification for the last two years since the last recruitment drive was taken up more than five years ago. They are holding demonstrations in Hyderabad and other districts demanding job notifications.
Prof D.N. Reddy, former regional chairman, AICTE and former v-c of OU and JNTU-Hyderabad said, "The time has come to focus on quality rather than quantity. Most engineering graduates are opting for lower paid jobs with SSC, Inter qualification due to poor training in colleges. The government's proposal to discourage such colleges and students is a welcome move."

The Cabinet has asked the Education department to take up a comprehensive study on how many engineers and doctors are required in Telangana, how many are produced every year, the reasons for huge unemployment among them and what should be done to check the menace.

No openings for Most graduates
AICTE data shows that only 30 per cent engineering graduates got jobs in campus placements this season nationwide. TS education officials believe that it would be less than 15 per cent in Telangana.

There are nearly 85,000 engineering seats, 25,000 B.Ed. seats and 20,000 D.Ed. seats on offer in Telangana, which are already in excess when compared to the job opportunities available in the state.

The Cabinet was of the view that many students, especially from poorer sections, were opting for engineering and teaching courses as the government reimburses their fees though they do not have the aptitude.Engineering and teaching graduates with poor skills are not getting employment in the private sector and are waiting for jobs.