Engineering students from five southern states – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh – account for nearly half of the learning assessment tests carried out by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as part of a survey between last September and June this year.
The AICTE’s survey report, which has revealed that first year engineering students are underperforming in maths compared to other core subjects, shows that undergrads from Tamil Nadu underwent the maximum number (24,499) of assessments, while Goa had only three students signing up for it.
The southern region is followed by the north-western states – including Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana – with 12387 students enrolled in institutes in this region taking the test. The report also points out that registration numbers from states in east and Northeast India were underwhelming, standing at 9012.
Students who performed exceedingly well in the test, scoring over 70 per cent marks, belong to institutes scattered across nine states in the country – Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Telangana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Another pattern which emerged from the survey is the relatively better performances of students pursuing their courses in institutes placed between 1-50 in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF).
The survey report cards show that students of institutes ranked 1-25 in NIRF obtained an average score of 52.64%, while students in institutes ranked 26-50 scored 54.61% on average. It then starts dipping, with students in institutes ranked 101-150 scoring 47.44% on an average.
The IITs did not participate in the survey, said an AICTE official. The survey was carried out through a specially designed online test named PARAKH. Besides an aptitude test for all levels, first-year students were tested on physics, chemistry, maths, while second, third and fourth-year students were assessed on competency in their area of specialisation. For third and fourth-year students, the overall scores also took into account their performance in emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).
An analysis of the maths, physics and chemistry skill levels of 22,725 first-year students showed that “more emphasis is required for maths study in the engineering domain”. “Civil (engineering) is the lowest-performing department across maths, physics and chemistry streams. More focus is required in the civil department in fundamental subjects,” it adds.
Five southern states (in terms of assessments)
- Andhra Pradesh 5628
- Telangana 4234
- Karnataka 8739
- Kerala 3431
- Tamil Nadu 24499
Top 5 states (in terms of students who took the test): Tamil Nadu (24492), Maharashtra (11334), Karnataka (8738), Madhya Pradesh (7724) and Uttar Pradesh (5288).
Top six institutes (max students scored over 70%) –
- College of Engineering Pune, Maharashtra
- Birsa Institute of Technology, Jharkhand
- NMAM Institute of Technology, Karnataka
- The National Institute of Engineering, Karnataka
- Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh
- NIT Warangal, Telangana
Courtesy : The Indian Express
