Engineering a change

THE past five years have seen a changing face of education in Punjab. At least 10 engineering colleges have sprouted in and around Chandigar...

THE past five years have seen a changing face of education in Punjab. At least 10 engineering colleges have sprouted in and around Chandigarh. And that goes for the rest of Punjab too which boasts of another 27 technical institutes, admitting over 10,000 students in places around Amritsar, Moga, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Sangrur and Patiala.

Much has changed in these few years. The newly established engineering colleges are scripting a revolution in the field of education.

8216;8216;This started with establishment of the Punjab Technical University in Jalandhar in 1997 which opened the doors to private institutes for affiliation. And now each college is trying to script its own success story,8217;8217; says Avtar Singh, chairman, Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology at Dera Bassi, who established a college in 1998. He says entrepreneurs in Punjab have capital to invest and people have the money to pay for better education nearer home.

Almost all colleges have big campuses and state of the art laboratories. Control of government on the fee structure and admission through a common entrance test CET add to their credibility. 8216;8216;Cut throat competition for supremacy is forcing these colleges to offer better education,8217;8217; says Col S.P. Sharma retd, principal, Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran near Mohali. These colleges are now tapping students who would earlier head to south India or Maharashtra for higher education.

8216;8216;Many families would not send their daughters very far to pursue engineering. But with colleges coming up in Punjab, they are encouraging them to take admission in these colleges,8217;8217; says Geetika Thapar, Dean, Academics at the Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Tangori, the first unaided private technical institute in the state established in 1996.

8220;Entrepreneurs in Punjab have capital to invest and people have money to pay for better education8221;

And students are not the only ones to have benefitted from new colleges. Teachers too have found better avenues. 8216;8216;Many colleges select experienced teachers at better pay scales. In addition to that, some of them also hire guest lecturers from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, and other old institutes,8217;8217; says S.K. Girdhar, principal of the Shaheed Udham Singh College.

For Madhu Chitkara, director, Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology near Rajpura, opening a college was graduating from running coaching centres to establishing an engineering institute. 8216;8216;The region has tremendous potential as over 2,000 students take admissions in engineering colleges. Thousands others fail to get admissions since seats in colleges are limited,8217;8217; she says.

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Punjab8217;s engineering revolution may soon put an end to that.