Bhubaneswar: There is a lack of interest among students for engineering courses being offered by the government and private colleges in the state.
According to the latest data, only 12,500 students have registered for admission in B.Tech courses for the 2018-19 academic year in Odisha.
Out of the 12,500 registered students, only 11,400 have participated in the choice locking process.
A total of 42,784 seats is available at eight government and 83 private engineering colleges in the state this year.
Last year, 13,600 students had registered for admission in engineering courses and around 12,000 candidates participated in the choice locking process. A total of 8,152 seats was filled after admission in the 2017-18 academic year.
While 670 seats were vacant in the state-run engineering colleges, only 4,600 seats out of 39,000 in 83 private engineering colleges were filled last year.
Eight government colleges have 4,086 seats, while private colleges offer 38,698 seats this year.
The scenario is likely to affect private engineering colleges more because students tend to prefer government colleges for professional courses.
Meanwhile, the Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) is optimistic that the student enrollment will be higher when compared with the figure last year.
OPECA Secretary Binod Das said: “The students had less time for registration during the OJEE counseling. More number of students will make enrolment after the second OJEE.”