There are no takers for Kannada medium engineering courses in Karnataka

In the second round of counselling for the Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) recently, not even one student opted for the course

The response to engineering courses in the Kannada medium has been poor this year, too. In the second round of counselling for the Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) recently, not even one student opted for the course.

The four year B.Sc Honours course in engineering colleges launched by the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) two years ago has also elicited poor response. Only a few students have opted for the course in at the KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belagavi.

The State government is expected to discontinue these two courses, which were launched with the ambition of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), sources said.

In accordance with the NEP’s recommendations, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) permitted engineering universities to offer engineering education in regional languages. The VTU offered the course in the 2021-22 academic year, and translated all the course material from English to Kannada, making it available to students.

Some institutions, including the SJC Institute of Technology in Chickballapur, the Bheemanna Khandre Institute of Technology (BKIT) in Bhalki, and the Maharaja Institute of Technology in Mysuru began offering engineering courses in Kannada.

In 2021-22, 17 students opted for the Kannada engineering courses and seven students secured admission to the college, but all seven students withdrew their admission and joined regular engineering courses conducted in English.

Only one student opted for the course at the BKIT in the CET counselling for the academic year 2022-23, but withdrew his admission a few days later to join a regular engineering course.