It seems like polytechnic courses in Maharashtra have been losing its popularity. This year, 18% fewer students applied for the Centralised Admission Process or CAP as compared to the previous year. According to the official data of DTE, only 65,406 students submitted applications for the admission to Diploma in engineering courses. Last year, around 80,000 students took part in CAP while the number was close to one lakh in 2015-16. The statistics of the past three years reveal that the polytechnic courses in the state have been losing demand among the students. All the polytechnic colleges across the state together offer 1,38,347 seats out of which only 55,787 students have taken admission.
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There has been a change in the trend in the last three years where many school students are evincing keen interest in joining Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) after Class 10. On the other hand, students from economically weaker sections prefer ITIs instead of polytechnics as the course fee is minimal. In the same way, many students prefer to join junior colleges instead of polytechnics.
Minimal job opportunities for the Diploma holders in Polytechnic is also one of the reasons for the decline in demand. The principal of a polytechnic college pointed that many companies prefer to hire degree holders at low salaries.
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Usually, the candidates who hold Diploma in Polytechnic from Maharashtra get admission into the second-year B.Tech course. These students need not appear for an entrance test. According to sources, there are sufficient takers for mechanical, computer and civil engineering branches. The demand for electronics as well as electronics and telecommunications has declined drastically.