Karnataka Calls for 2-Year Halt on New Engineering Colleges and Tighter Student Intake Control

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Karnataka’s Higher Education Minister, Dr. MC Sudhakar, has called upon the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to address the surge in seats in engineering and technical courses offered by private institutions in the state. He emphasized the need for the state government to regulate seat increases in private institutions, specifically in IT-related programs, while also setting limits for minimum and maximum seats for specific courses. Additionally, he proposed a ban on establishing new engineering colleges or universities with professional courses in major cities for the next two to three years. Dr. Sudhakar urged AICTE to penalize violations of standards and make state government approval a mandatory prerequisite for changes in seat numbers or course offerings. He highlighted the adverse impact of unscientific decisions on colleges in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, citing faculty shortages and declining teaching quality due to the migration of educators to Tier 1 cities. This, in turn, affects admissions in these institutions.