Amid global economic slowdown when engineering graduates are being asked to pursue higher studies,there seems to be a few takers for other professional and vocational courses in Bengals private colleges. The decreasing number of students enrolling in such courses has led the West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) to cancel the Common Entrance Test (CET) the examination for admission to non-AICTE approved courses for the current academic session. The university conducts CET for admission to BBA,BCA,B Optometry,BSc Microbiology,BSc Biotechnology and Bachelors in Hospitality and Hotel Management in 120 colleges in the state affiliated to it. The economic slowdown has made the students wary of joining non-AICTE approved courses since they are not much sought after in the job market. Last year,approximately 20,000 students applied for the CET examination where the colleges have a capacity for nearly 18,000 seats. Recession is a phenomenon affecting the world at large and we dont know how it will affect students opting for these streams. It is a psychological response that can take a few years or the effects of it can be seen this year only, said Sabyasachi Sengupta,Vice-Chancellor,WBUT. In this situation,number of students appearing for a competitive examination is nearly the same as the number of seats offered. Hence,there is no logic for an entrance test, said the V-C. The V-C has already informed the higher education department that the university is not going to conduct the examination this time. Alternatively,the officials of the WBUT will hold a meeting with the principals of the colleges in this regard. One of the options before the WBUT will be to admit the students based on their Higher Secondary Examination marks. Last year,some demand-supply mismatch was visible when the CET examinations continued for two months starting from June 2008 till the end of July 2008. This was owing to the pressure of the colleges to conduct the exam in phases so that more students could appear and all the seats could be filled up.
