Technical education sees strong revival in Kerala

Technical education in Kerala is witnessing a broad-based resurgence with enrolment rising steadily across universities over the last few years.

With official statistics indicating a sustained increase in student intake, the State’s higher education sector appears to witness renewed student confidence in professional courses as well as the State’s technical education ecosystem.

While the overall intake in engineering has allied programmes has shown consistent year-on-year growth, the trend is marked in the case of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) that accounts for the largest share of engineering seats in the State.

Official intake data show that the university’s overall enrolment has risen steadily from 55% in 2021-22 to 72% in 2025-26. In absolute terms, the total admissions, including postgraduate programmes, increased from 30,907 in 2021-22 to 49,110 in 2025-26.

During the period, while approved intake capacity expanded from 55,791 to 67,974 seats, vacant seats reduced from 24,884 to 18,864, reflecting a stronger demand for engineering seats. Computer Science and Engineering remains the most preferred stream among undergraduate engineering aspirants.

Other State-run universities too have reported similar trends. The engineering intake at Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) rose from 1,530 in 2024-25 to 1,656 in 2025-26. Calicut University recorded an increase from 218 to 263, while Kerala University reported 221 admissions in 2025-26.

Diploma programmes

The growth has been visible beyond core engineering streams. The total intake in polytechnic and related institutions rose from 30,780 in 2024-25 to 34,783 in 2025-26. Regular diploma admissions grew from 18,350 to 22,235, lateral entry admissions increased from 3,903 to 5,110, and enrolment under working professional diploma programmes rose from 516 to 650.

Among the other programmes offered by KTU, BArch enrolment increased from 426 in 2021-22 to 485 in 2025-26, BHMCT admissions rose from 129 to 300, and BDes admissions climbed sharply from 61 to 204. BBA admissions also increased from 186 in 2024-25 to 421 in 2025-26, and BCA enrolment more than doubled from 347 to 744.

Higher Education officials attribute the revival to curriculum reforms introduced in recent years, that are aimed at bridging the skill gap and aligning academic programmes with industry requirements.

The restructured curriculum emphasises project-based learning, extended internships of up to one year, industry-linked courses and skill development modules in collaboration with NASSCOM.

Start-up and innovation-focussed components have also been integrated to promote entrepreneurship among students.

According to Higher Education Minister R. Bindu, over 500 technology business incubators have been established across campuses as part of strengthening industry linkage. Besides, the Digital Workforce Management System launched by the Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission have been instrumental in connecting job seekers with employers and also providing skill training in tune with the changing global market needs.