THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even when skill is deemed as important as education in this tech-driven era, private industrial training institutes (ITIs) in the state are facing a hard time. The number of students taking admissions in these institutes has been decreasing drastically over the past few years, with only around 30% of the seats getting filled on an average.

With just a few weeks left for the application process to end this year, only 5-10% of seats have been filled, according to private ITI officials. Nor do they expect the student turnout to improve. “From nearly 500 private ITIs at one point, the count has now reduced to 245,” said a senior official with the industrial training department.

With the student enrolment figures shrinking, officials from private ITI associations are planning to approach the Director General of Training for an extension of the admission deadline (August 30) for this academic year.

“There is a general notion among people that ITIs are for weaker students, which is the primary reason for the drop in numbers,” said Private ITI Management Association (PITIMA) general secretary Vijayakumar T D.

He said students from these institutions would easily get jobs in both private and public sectors. “The admission has been on the decline over the past 10 years,” Vijayakumar said.

‘Nearly 40% of private ITIs stare at shutdown’

“The establishment of more engineering colleges in the state can be cited as one of the reasons for this,” said Vijayakumar.