The announcement of a mock round of admissions in Gujarat University (GU)-affiliated Bachelor of Science (BSc) colleges has triggered disappointment ahead of the new academic year, as the intake prospect appears to be low.
Only 5,423 students have made it through the mock round of admission from a total 14,000 seats in about 42 colleges affiliated to GU offering BSc, integrated MSc and MBA after passing Class 12 science.
With fewer students passing out from Class 12 science this year and only 1,000 students from Group A registering for the admission process, colleges offering mathematics and allied subjects in BSc having significant difficulty filling seats this year.
Even with the number of students with biology subjects being higher, college managements fear the worst as a majority of students will walk away after the UG NEET result is announced and meritorious students get admission in medical and para-medical courses.
Principal of Bhavan’s Sheth RA College of Science, H M Patel, who is also coordinator for BSc course admission at GU, said there are 157 different subject combinations and groups run by the 42 colleges and university departments. This includes 10 grant-in-aid colleges and 32 self-financed institutes.
“There were only 35,000 students with mathematics subjects who passed Class 12 science exam this year and 65,000 with biology. We were expecting a lower turnout but the registrations for BSc course is far below expectations,” he said.
Patel said that government and grant-in-aid colleges face challenges as they cannot offer short-term courses to attract more students. “SFIs have the option of offering additional courses, short-term courses and so they get more students, while grant-in-aid colleges suffer,” he said.
Those in academics also said that state universities get limited interest from students as meritorious and those who can afford higher fees have already taken admission in private universities. Even if all 5,423 students take admission in the courses, 8,577 seats will go vacant.