TN: Only 40 of 291 engineering colleges under Anna University secure more than 10% pass

CHENNAI: With counselling for engineering aspirants underway in the State, several non-autonomous colleges affiliated to Anna University have performed very poorly in the recent semester exams.

Academicians opined that students choose the wrong institutions based on trending courses like computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, cyber security and internet of things.

According to the Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE), 291 non-autonomous colleges conducted the exams, of which, only 40 colleges could secure beyond 10% pass in the semester exams (December 2024). The DOTE analysis further revealed that the pass percentage from a college each from Thanjavur and Tiruvallur was nil.

A total of 364 students appeared for 4 semester exams in an engineering college at Kallakurichi. Shockingly, only three could clear it with an overall pass percentage of 0.82%. Likewise, of the total 426 students in Dharmapuri, 420 failed by getting a total pass percentage of mere 1.41%. In Kanniyakumari, 847 students wrote the semester exams, and only 46 have cleared it, with an overall pass percentage of just 5.43%.

However, in Kancheepuram, which stood number one in the list, has secured 96.53% overall. Likewise, 12 colleges could also maintain a good overall pass percentage between 80 and 89%.

P Thirunavukkarasu, vice-chairman, Association of University Teachers (AUT) highlighted that the lack of proper career guidance was the reason students choose courses and colleges. “They select colleges that offer attractive courses. But its only enrolment do they understand the real situation in their respective institutions. Many institutes don’t have qualified professors and even lack basic infrastructures for engineering programmes,” he added. “Since they don’t have the option of switching colleges, they continue studying there without proper guidance. This leads to poor performance. The State government is also taking steps to resolve the issue.”

A former professor from Anna University alleged that the affiliation of the poor performing institutions could not be cancelled due to political interference. “However, the university has the capacity to cancel the affiliation of a particular engineering college, which has had poor records of more than three years,” he stated. “Aspirants are desperate to get admissions in computer science, AI and other job-oriented courses, but the quality of coaching in these subjects in rural areas is not on par with the institutions in the cities.”