PANJIM: Admissions to the mining engineering courses, offered by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) for the degree as well as diploma levels, have been suspended for three years.
Technical Education Director Vivek Kamat said, “Admissions to the degree course at Goa Engineering College (GEC) have been suspended from this year for three years. The diploma course in mining engineering was suspended since last year,” he stated.
Asked for the reasons for suspension of the admission process, he said, “There are very few takers for the courses and the numbers are decreasing, therefore we had to decide to suspend the admissions.”
GEC offered 30 seats for the mining engineering degree course. However, in 2017 just seven students sought admissions to the course despite 50 per cent seats being occupied in the first round of admissions.
Similarly, the diploma course offered by DTE at the Government Polytechnic in Bicholim has witnessed a dip in the number of aspirants to join the course after the ban on mining activities in 2012. Despite the course being offered for the last two decades, after the closure of mining operations in the State, for the academic year 2017-18 merely five students took admission to the course.
GEC had commenced the degree course in 2011. A separate building for the department had also been constructed within the campus in 2013. However, post the mining closure by the government in 2012 and subsequently by the Supreme Court, the department has never seen admission to its full capacity indicating a direct link between the mining closure and the admissions to the course.
Responding to a query on what could be the reasons for students to shy away from seeking admissions to the course, Kamat said, “We cannot ascertain the exact reason for the students not seeking admissions to the degree and diploma courses, but if the need increases then we will start the course again.”
The diploma in mining engineering course had become lucrative with local youth seeking job opportunities within the State in the industry.
