E-Paper
Large number of tech education, pharmacy colleges shut down in last 2 years
As per the information given by AICTE, in the academic year 2019-20, there were 1,606 colleges approved by the AICTE. In 2020-21, the number of technical colleges went down to 1,347
In the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely impacted all fields including education. In the last two years, 396 technical education colleges under the aegis of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have been shut down due to less number of admissions. The condition is similar with respect to pharmacy and engineering colleges.
As per the information given by AICTE, in the academic year 2019-20, there were 1,606 colleges approved by the AICTE. In 2020, the pandemic started and there was a major impact on the admission process in technical education. Due to this, the number of technical colleges went down to 1,347 in the academic year 2020-21. While in the current academic year 2021-22, more technical colleges have closed down and the number has gone down further to 1,210. This means that in the last two years, a total of 396 technical colleges have shut down in Maharashtra.
Similarly, in the academic year 2019-20, there were 551 pharmacy colleges in the state. That number has reduced drastically in two years with only 184 pharmacy colleges running in this academic year 2021-22.
About the shutting down of colleges, professor Krishna Mahindre who works in the technical education field, said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on technical education, students taking admissions and subsequently, job opportunities. As everything was closed down including factories, industries and manufacturing units, there were no jobs for people. Due to which students were avoiding opting for technical education courses over the past two years.”
