Engineering Education in Orissa - is it sustainable?

Technological education needs along with education policies are essential for the socio-economic development of any nation. However it needs to be managed properly. This paper presents a study done on how technical education changed course in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, a state on the east coast of India. The change was a reaction to the Information Technology boom in India combined with the modification of education policies by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which oversees the accreditation process of engineering colleges in India. The numerous engineering colleges and institutions that have mushroomed over the past five to seven years in the greater city of Bhubaneswar are proof to this. But the question is have they met the needs of the industry now? Does this new education system have the right ingredients for economic success? More importantly, can it be sustained long-term? This case study takes an exploratory approach to look at how engineering education has grown in Bhubaneswar and attempts to identify gaps in this specific instance which illustrates that technological education needs management.