Goa, July 2 -- Engineering colleges in Goa continue to witness poor admissions, with nearly 475 seats remaining vacant after the first round of counselling, raising concerns over declining interest in engineering education.

Officials from the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) expect the number of vacant seats to increase further once admissions under NEET begin, as many students are likely to opt for medical and allied health science courses instead of engineering.

According to DTE officials, the shift in student preferences is being driven by better employment opportunities in fields such as medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and Ayurveda. They also cited a decline in the number of Class XII students opting for mathematics, alon...