Information technology (IT) and computer science engineering (CSE) streams in engineering colleges are back in focus after a gap of four years. With IT companies hiring the maximum number of engineering graduates this year during campus placements, the demand for IT and CSE courses in top engineering colleges has shot up drastically. Parents have begun searching for IT and CSE seats for their wards in top engineering colleges even before Eamcet is conducted.
Thanks to this trend, engineering colleges are demanding huge premiums ranging between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh for seats in the management quota, while the government prescribed fee is Rs 95,000 per annum. The B.Tech seats in IT and CSE streams, which were most sought-after during 2001-2008, have found few takers since 2009. For the past four years, the colleges have been struggling to fill these seats due to reduced job opportunities, mainly since 2009, on account of recession and global slowdown in the IT sector. The poor response forced several colleges to apply to the AICTE seeking permission for closure of IT and CSE branches.
However, the situation has turned around for IT and CSE streams once again since the placement season which began in September 2011 and ended in March this year. “About 90 per cent of the jobs have been offered by IT companies alone during the recently concluded placement season. The major recruiters were Infosys, Cognizant and Wipro, while all other sectors contributed only 10 per cent of the jobs,” said Dr Rajeshwar Reddy, chairman of Anurag Group of Colleges.
The IT firms have also announced robust recruitment plans for the ensuing placement season. “The positive job outlook in the IT sector has contributed to an increased demand for IT and CSE seats. However, this is not the case in all colleges,” pointed out P. Ravi Kumar, an education counsellor. “Only those colleges, which figure in the top-50 list are getting enquiries since the recruiters give utmost priority to the standards being maintained by the colleges in imparting engineering education