Govt. arts and science colleges to begin today admission counselling for additional seats
Likewise, government-aided colleges and self-financing colleges have been permitted to increase intake by 15% and 10% respectively.
The additional enrolment follows the rise in the number of applicants this year for enrolment in government arts and science colleges.
The Government Arts College (Autonomous) Coimbatore that offers 23 UG programmes in both shift I and II has admitted 98% (1,700) out of the intake of 1,727 students in the first year.
As per the government direction to increase up to 20% seats based on the available infrastructure facilities, 234 more students will have be admitted, taking the overall strength to 1,961, Principal M.R. Yezhili said.
Including the 2% of the sanctioned strength, a total of 261 vacancies will be filled in the departments of Tamil, English, Political Science, Economics, Maths, Physics Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology and a few other departments, Prof. Yezhili said.
According to college heads, though 20% increase has been permitted, deciding the extent of increase has been left to the discretion of the respective institutions.
For UG programmes such as Commerce in which the seats would have already been filled to the capacity, there was no compulsion to increase the limit.
The colleges have already voiced the inadequacy of teaching faculty to the Higher Education Department.
They hope that timely appointment of guest lecturers will make the teaching-learning process purposeful in the first semester for the first-year students.
While the intent of the government to increase gross enrolment ratio in higher education through the exercise is commendable, the government ought to simultaneously scale up laboratory and other facilities in the government colleges in the long-term interests of the students, former Principal of Government College for Women, Coimbatore, T. Veeramani said.
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