The number of applicants in next year’s state joint entrance examinations has come down to 89,000 from 113,912 this year, a sharp drop that academics are attributing to waning interest in engineering courses triggered by shrinking job prospects.
The applicant count in 2019 was around 11,000 less than previous year’s. The gap between this year’s count and that of last year is as high as 25,000.
Prospective state JEE candidates had time till November 13 to fill in forms online.
Students who crack the test are allotted seats in engineering colleges in Bengal based on their ranks. Those intending to study medicine have to write a separate all-India test.
The JEE board has advanced next year’s exams by two months to February so that colleges have more time to fill their seats.
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But the sharp decline in the number of applicants has spawned a fear among members of the Association of Professional Academic Institutions — a platform for self-financed engineering colleges — that they could be staring at more vacant seats next year than this year.
Source: The Telegraph
