Lucknow: Sensing that poor communication skills in English might be holding back engineering students in Uttar Pradesh from getting good jobs, authorities have decided that the subject would be introduced in engineering colleges and institutes in the state, an official said on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) that governs over 230 technical institutes across the state will introduce the subject for engineering students, the official added.

"At times, our students, especially those coming from rural areas, are unable to get good jobs owing to poor spoken English skills," said a senior UPTU teacher, preferring anonymity.

"60 per cent of students are not able to get satisfactory jobs because of their poor interaction in English language," he added.

In the last academic session, over 40,000 students were enrolled in the four-year B.Tech stream of engineering, officials said.

According to UPTU officials, the varsity will not provide degrees to those students who score less than 30 percent marks in English.

"To introduce English as a subject, we are consulting the varsity's executive council members," said V.K. Singh, examination controller of the varsity.

The subject is likely to be introduced from this academic session. IANS