Govt arts and science colleges in region get more courses

Of the 13 government arts and science colleges in Coimbatore region, eight have got new courses this academic year.
A total of 14 UG and PG courses have been sanctioned for the colleges in Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tirupur and Erode districts. This is a part of the total 81 courses sanctioned for 45 government arts and science colleges across the state, officials said.
While newer and developing colleges in the region have got general courses such as physics, chemistry and commerce, established colleges have got courses like geology. Officials of the regional directorate of collegiate education in the city said a total of 79 faculty member posts have been sanctioned for these new courses, and they would be filled through the recruitment process initiated by the teacher recruitment board and in case of further necessity, guest faculty would also be roped in.
Regional joint director of collegiate education (in-charge), Coimbatore, P Ponmuthuramalingam said the colleges apply to get new courses every year, based on their needs and facilities.
“The colleges would also have to justify the reason for seeking new courses, in terms of scope of the courses,” he said. The state then approves the courses and the colleges apply for affiliation to the university under which they fall. A committee from the university inspects the colleges for facilities and then if satisfied, provides provisional affiliation for the first two years and gives permanent affiliation the third year, he said.
While every year new courses would be sanctioned for government arts and science colleges, this year more number of courses have been sanctioned for colleges across the state, officials said. Last year, new research courses such as MPhil and PhD were sanctioned for colleges, they said.
As for student strength, they said for undergraduate arts courses, the maximum strength would be 60 and for UG science courses, it would be 40. For post graduate arts courses, the maximum strength would be 40 and for science courses, it would be 25, they said. Speaking about faculty strength, they said PG courses would have two faculty members for each of the two years. UG arts courses would have four faculty members totally and science courses would have five.
Of the 13 government arts and science colleges in the region, those at Coimbatore, Ooty, Udumalaipettai, Chikkanna Government Arts College and LRG Government Arts College for Women, both in Tirupur, are grade-I government colleges, which have more courses and students. While the others are newer colleges and are classified as grade-II colleges, which have fewer courses.