PANAJI
Taking umbrage to reports in the media alleging poor quality of faculty in their institutions as the cause for poor enrollments, several of Goa's private engineering colleges rubbished the apprehensions and have slammed the anonymous former principal of an engineering college for the baseless claims.
“We collectively object and refute this statement made and reported by the concerned daily based upon the observations made by the anonymous ex-principal of one of the government colleges,” said Dr Neena Panandikar, the Principal, Don Bosco College of Engineering (DBCE).
Dr Panandikar praised the efforts of faculty members in imparting and enhancing the quality of education across private engineering colleges in Goa.
She also questioned the timing of the media reports coming as it does when the process of admissions has begun which is bound to prove detrimental.
Dr Panandikar also said that the reports questioning the quality of faculty fall flat in the face of representations at various educational forums internationally.
Meanwhile, Dr Shailendra Asawle, who is principal of Shree Rayeshwar Institute of Engineering & Information Technology said faculty from private engineering colleges in Goa published nearly 18 papers, besides securing competitive positions at the ongoing Smart India Hackathon.
The RIT Shiroda also added that choices made by aspirants for a particular course also impact the filling up of seats in respective colleges.
“In the last three to four years, preference has been shown towards Information Technology and Computer Engineering, resulting in lower intake in other branches like Electronics and Telecommunication (ETC)," Dr Asawle said.
Dr Mahesh B Parappagoudar, Principal, Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, (PCCE), Verna claimed that students from private engineering colleges in Goa were excelling at different levels.
“Our faculty members strive hard to ensure that our students excel and provide them with ample opportunities to grow,” he added.
Dr V Mariappan, Advisor, Agnel Institute of Technology & Design (AITD) said: “Each faculty member of all the private engineering institutions is appointed by the University panel as per UGC norms. We are deeply hurt by this kind of reportage.”
The industry also joined in to support the stand of the private engineering colleges.
Goa Technology Association (GTA) founder president Mangurish Salelkar asserted that he can vouch for the quality of faculty members across the engineering colleges in Goa.
He said, they have been producing the best trained human resource for industries in Goa and globally.
Chairman of the Education Committee of Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) Prof Raghuveer Vernekar said: "Improvement is an ongoing process, and one has a right to dwell upon that process, but making a generalist comment without any reasoning is going to be detrimental to the institutions named in the news report.”
