Alarming Drop in Engineering Students Is Cause for Concern
There is a concerning trend of fewer students enrolling in engineering programmes in Pakistan, according to a recent research.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) data reveals a sharp decline in participants, with numbers falling from 16,005 in 2017 to just 3,895 in 2024—a 76% decline. The study, which combined information from multiple school boards, indicated that fewer and fewer students are choosing to enrol in pre-engineering courses. According to experts, this trend jeopardises the foundation of the nation’s progress.
Umar Ahmad Noor, a research associate at the Earthquake Engineering Centre, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar, and former vice chancellor Prof. Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad compiled the report, which cautions that this trend may have major ramifications for the nation’s engineering industry going forward.
The number of students nationwide pursuing pre-engineering has significantly decreased during the last ten years. According to the research, pre-engineering is a fundamental prerequisite for several disciplines, including physics, computer science, electronics, architecture, space sciences, and mathematics. This drop has also had an impact on enrollment in these fields.
According to data from UET, Peshawar’s Engineering Entrance Test (ETEA), 15,529 students applied in 2018 and 11,110 in 2019. In 2020, there was a significant drop, with only 5,816 students taking the exam. The number of pupils decreased to 6,650 in 2022 after somewhat improving to 7,741 in 2021. Just 4,579 students in KP shown interest in studying engineering in 2023. Remarkably, the number of applicants who took the most recent admission exam for 2024 was just 3,895, a considerable decrease from prior years.
Pre-engineering test results for the Federal Board in 2015 showed 14,605 students, while pre-medical exam results showed 12,397. Only 35% of students chose to major in pre-engineering by 2023, a significant decrease from 54% in 2015. Enrollments in pre-engineering fell by 19% over an eight-year period, while those in pre-medicine increased in line with this trend. This declining trend is true for different school boards. The study, which examined participation rates in entrance exams and enrollment numbers, revealed a consistent downward trend over time.
The results show that immediate and significant action to advance engineering education is urgently needed from all stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Planning and Development, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Pakistan Engineering Council.
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