IIT aspirants up in Andhra Pradesh

The number of students from the state who are trying to get into Indian Institute of Technology has increased by 25 per cent when compared to last year.

While nearly 39,000 candidates had applied for Joint Entrance Examination in 2007, the number went up to about 50,100 this year. Last year, over 500 students from the state secured seats in various IITs.

The JEE-2008 for admission to various undergraduate courses in the seven IIT's and other technological universities of the country will be held on April 13. The last date for submitting application forms ended on January 4.

"There has been more than 25 per cent increase in the number of applicants across the country and not just in Andhra Pradesh," said Mr N.M. Bhandari, chairman of JEE-2008.

Last year, 2.43 lakh students had appeared for the test and one lakh more students have applied for JEE-2008. The number of students competing for a seat has gone up to 77 while it was 55 last year.

There are nearly 4,500 seats available in the seven IITs across the country.

"The number of students competing for a seat in prestigious global universities such as Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology is eight," said Mr Bhandari.

"The competition for IITs is tougher."

Veteran IIT trainer and MLC, Mr Chukka Ramaiah, said the drop in standards and lack of faculty and infrastructure in most engineering colleges of the state had forced students to opt for IITs.

"Most of the engineering colleges in the state produce graduates who are unemployable," he said. "They are forced to undergo training in Jawahar Knowledge Centres to develop skills."

Meanwhile, the newly announced IIT at Medak may not start functioning from this year.