As applications for undergraduate courses go completely online, college administrations across the district are offering a helping hand to students from remote areas and to first generation learners who face trouble applying through the internet .
Hundreds of calls flood the offices of Thiagarajar College every day regarding how one must apply, says Principal D. Pandiaraja.
“We patiently take them through the entire process of application and explain to them about how to manoeuvre any glitches. The prospectus online has several numbers which are always reachable. I am reachable too and have attended at least 60 calls today,” he says. He adds that the college went online with its applications last year too. It has hence been easy to handle the queries this year, he said.
Principal of Sri Meenakshi Government College for Women S. Vanathi says that the college is a government facilitating institution.
“We have a separate faculty coordinator who directs students in case they face any trouble. A notice board outside our college states the name of our website and has also provided details regarding who to contact in case of emergencies,” she said.
Principal, Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College, B. Manoharan, says that applying online has been a challenge for a section of students. “I myself have seen a number of families cramming outside computer centres near the college. Although a section is definitely affected by this move, we are confident that they will apply since they have been told that they can use government e-sevai centres or can contact their schools to apply” he said.
Lady Doak College’s Principal Christianna Singh said that their college too went online last year and that only a few people had problems navigating through their website. “Since we are a minority institution, we also encourage people to directly write to us in case they have any problems. If they are persons who cannot afford the finances, we are more than willing to accommodate them based on their merit,” she said.
American College has already received close to 15,000 applications, said Principal M. Davamani Christober. He said that since the State government had already provided a number of students with laptops, they would surely be able to apply online. He added that faculty had been stationed in the college to clear the doubts of students who would come to their college premises.