Seats in government arts and science colleges through single window counselling are not getting filled up fast. In some colleges in the suburbs, principals said students approached them but wanted to block seats till they could mobilise the money to pay the fees.
According to the Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers’ Association office-bearers the response was only to be expected.
“We generally call the toppers who have applied in the first phase. Most of them would have chosen other colleges. Some may even go for engineering or write the NEET. The pace will pick up in the second phase,” said T. Veeramani, general secretary of the association.
The association has proposed to request the Higher Education Department to permit the colleges to admit students who had not applied online after the counselling is completed. “There are many students from remote and tribal areas who did not know about the process. We would like to give them a chance,” he said.
The first phase of counselling began on August 26 and will end on Friday.
Other colleges
The situation is not very different in self-financing and aided colleges.
A college in the city’s western suburb had quite a few students seeking admission but with a request that they be given time to pay fees. “Most of these students come from modest backgrounds and their parents are auto drivers or share auto drivers. Only now has the government allowed them to function. It will take them sometime to return to normal life. Our management has many scholarships but we cannot help all of them,” a college official said.
Principal of New College, Basheer Ahmed, said some students did have trouble paying the fees. “If students ask for 10 days’ time we give them 12 days,” he said. Faculty in Pachaiyappa’s College said in some departments the admission was in single digit. The intake in the first year is around 1,500 students as each department is allowed to admit around 70-80 students. The intake is almost double that number in Commerce department.
Some teachers here said appointing faculty with little experience and the poor image the institution had created in media had led to the poor response.