During The Hindu EducationPlus Career Counselling Fair 2026 held at the Sri Sudhindra Auditorium in Mangaluru, Harisha Shetty, Principal of Karnataka Polytechnic, encouraged students to pursue engineering courses at government institutions. He stated that these colleges provide quality education at an affordable cost. Shetty explained the seat selection process managed by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), which allocates seats based on NEET rankings for medicine and marks from the Pre University and Common Entrance Test for engineering. He noted that over 13,000 engineering seats remained unfilled after the 2025 selection process, suggesting that students have ample opportunities to secure placements in desired courses. Shetty cautioned against parents paying advance fees to private colleges, advising them to consider government options like the Government Engineering College in Kushalnagar and the Government Polytechnic in Karwar, which offer quality education. Other speakers at the event included M.R. Durgaprasad, who discussed careers in medicine, and R.G. Dsouza, who spoke on engineering courses. The event featured various sponsors, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and multiple universities.