Do you think holding online counselling is appropriate in the present scenario?

A step in right direction

The state government’s proposal to set up a portal for online admissions in colleges is a timely step in the right direction. When the number of services available online are increasing daily, why can’t counselling be held through this mode too? The Centre and state should bring in more services under the umbrella. The Centre should begin a world class university, imparting education online on the pattern of Indira Gandhi National Open University providing education through correspondence. The pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to make social reforms such as limiting social gatherings to twenty persons. It is time to put in practice the old saying: simple living and high thinking. Any step to provide online service gives a chance to lessen the load on the road and thereby avoiding traffic jams and keep the environment clean.

Naresh Johar

Need of the hour in scorching heat

The pandemic has forced shut colleges and deprived students of benefits of physical classes. Also, transport services are affected which makes travel to educational institutes more difficult. Students can’t feel the ambience of their college too, due to this. It would have been difficult for them to decide about which college to get admission to, when physical visits to colleges were not allowed and they did not rely on postal system. Incidents of postponement of examinations and admissions had added to the woes of the students. Despite all disadvantages, the only option left is online common counseling for college admission. In the age of internet, it is not difficult to host hassle-free common counseling. Its major benefit is the convenience and participation from the comfort of home. As it is difficult to follow norms such as social distancing in interactive sessions of counseling and wear masks which eventually are rendered ineffective due to drenching in sweat in scorching heat and making breathing difficult. Online admission can provide a breather. All those students who don’t have necessary equipment such as laptop and webcams can definitely take the help of their friends, relatives and neighbours. Right from filling admission form to submission of documents and depositing of fee online constitute the online process. Many colleges provide virtual video tours on their websites which can be helpful to students to some extent. Weighing pros and cons of physical and virtual admissions, online common counseling for admissions looks more appropriate.

Anil Khanna

Colleges’ enrolment will be affected

Enrolment in colleges, which are already facing tough times due to the flight of youth from Punjab to foreign countries and Covid-19, will be further hit by this online common portal for admissions. It will lead to many complications regarding students seeking concessions, part payments and getting the subjects of their choice. In the present pandemic times, the students and their parents are already facing many hardships and their future will be in jeopardy with this new system which is full of flaws. It is also hitting autonomy of colleges as the Punjab Government Act 1956 authorises universities to regulate their admissions, curriculum and evaluation system.

Dr Mehal Singh

Stakeholders’ say must be considered

The policy has been framed and imposed in just one month’s time without any discussion and feedback from the stakeholders. In the pandemic times, the students and their families are already facing unprecedented health and economic issues. They are in dire need of help and guidance from their teachers to choose the courses and institutions. But in the Common Admission Portal such support will not be possible. Students from rural and remote areas will definitely fall prey to the agents who are flourishing in education fields these days. Thus, the portal must be deferred immediately.

DS Rataul

Idea outlandish for some courses

Online portals for counselling were launched to handle the situation where the demand for seats was unusually high as compared to the availability of seats. For example, seats to medical colleges and IITs are limited and for admissions to them, entrance tests are conducted. After that, online counselling offers the aspirants with a choice of colleges/stations. The arrangement is convenient, foolproof and acceptable to all. However, in case of state colleges, planning to offer admission to courses such as BBA/BSc/BTech /MBA/MCom etc through a similar online programme, the idea is outlandish, to say the least. Some courses are more popular than others. Most of these colleges are functioning under heavy odds. There are more seats than the applicants, who usually have family affiliations with an institution and want to study there. Moreover, the colleges are offering inducements and stipends to attract the required minimum strength to fill the benches and run colleges. In fact, they are struggling to pay salaries to their staff. Under these circumstances, online portals, if introduced, will ruin what remains of higher education in the state. I wonder if any other state follows this system. To me it is a case of ‘solution looking for a problem’. I hope the authorities who thought of it, will think twice before going ahead with this ‘innovation’. I don’t think any college will support it.

Prof Mohan Singh

Technology gap will be an issue

Holding online counselling for college admissions is the only option available amid the ongoing pandemic. Since counselling is an important part of admission process, student counselling services are in demand which are hard to meet under the present circumstances. Hence something is better than nothing though the experts are having divergent views on the effectiveness of online counseling programme. Covid has adversely impacted all sectors and colleges and universities are no exception. That is why some of them have opened career counselling centres, admission offices and student help centres across the nation to help students seeking admission to various courses. It has been done in view of the curbs imposed in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Obviously fallback on technology is inevitable knowing well that counselling conducted through technology cannot offset the advantages of offline counselling. Online counselling is a kind of professional assistance provided to those requiring counselling. The counsellors with their years of experience and knowledge can help students weigh the pros and cons of various courses and make the right choice. Even then online counselling suffers from inherent disadvantages. The typing speed of a prospective student can limit the conveyance of information in chat based sessions. The students may find it difficult to put complex thoughts and emotions into words. There is a greater chance of miscommunication between the counselor and the student. Despite all, what cannot be cured must be endured, keeping the appropriateness of the online counselling on the back burner. Video-conferencing can play a vital role if the portal meant for the purpose remains functional all time. Since nothing can be done about online counselling, the aspiring students will have to live with it but reality must take precedence over ground reality.

Tarsem S Bumrah

Will be Convenient for most students

Online counseling works as a means of constant contact between students and counseling centre or the counselor. There are various types of online counselling like web-counselling, e- counseling and Internet counselling. It helps in facing, addressing and resolving the challenges faced by students in their life who are residing at some rural and border areas. It is fairly affordable and convenient to a large extent for students who are physically challenged, disabled and who are not ready to come out in public with their problems due to their shy nature. As per present scenario of pandemic, it can also protect students to follow Covid guideline such as social-distancing. Few things that must be taken under consideration while holding online counseling are that sometime counselors are non-reciprocative in emergence circumstances and privacy is at stake, which should be taken care of. Facial expressions and body language are not visible to online counselors to help them understand the severity and authenticity of student. Last but not the least chances of providing help are less to those ailing from complicated and serious mental health issues.

Ankur Gupta

No satisfactory arrangements made

Online counseling for admissions to various colleges in the state is a good option but addressing the problem of technology gap among students will be a challenge. Also, counselling plays a vital role in every sphere of human life. As more than 40 per cent population is below 25 years of age, career counseling is felt as a basic need of youth particularly the students. No satisfactory arrangement of career counseling in schools is available. If the state government takes suitable measures regarding online career counseling, it will help students to select courses for them easily. Dedicated career counsellors and portals are the need of the hour to help students select the stream of their choice.

TS Bhatti

Technical snags shouldn’t be ignored

One shoe does not fit all, and colleges compete amongst each other with variable facilities and levels of educational standard. Imagine a scenario where one portal (with its evident snags and pitfalls) decides that a particular student is to study in a given college only. Where is the element of choice? Also, higher education is in deep distress with empty seats a norm rather than the exception. Is the state going to guarantee that all seats will be taken or will the fee subvention for empty seats provided for by the state? Furthermore, parents with depleted income, especially during Covid times, are at wits end trying to make ends meet. Covid 2.0 will see the biggest dropout ratio in school and college education due to this health and fiscal catastrophe. Good institutions give a variety of time and material concessions that are outside the purview of a standardised process, not to mention scholarships, sports quotas, meritorious student incentives etc. The fact of the matter is that the admission and registration process is already underway, and this belated intervention shall be sheer confusion. Finally, there seems to be a new found effort to rein in aided colleges (137 only) and public universities, wherein all private institutions are out of this ambit. So what are we sorting out really?

Gunbir Singh

Arrangements must at ground level

Keeping in view the ongoing pandemic, holding online counselling for all colleges is a good step taken by the state government. Before 2007, a common entrance test was conducted for admission to various steams. But after that, direct admissions were made at colleges. Online counseling process is a good option during the pandemic when holding physical sessions increase the risk of contracting the virus. Students can choose colleges of their choice and can take admission according to their merit. But a challenge that needs to be dealt with is the gap in availability of resources in some villages (especially in Border areas), where people also face network issues. We have been facing such issues from the past one year when the education sector had to resort to online mode. Imparting education through online mode had also not been of much help due to gap in resources. It could prove to be a good step but arrangements need to be made for its better implementation.

Jatinder Vir Singh

Right decision amid pandemic

The state government has set up a portal for online admission in various colleges of Panjab University, Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University. Most of the students and parents are happy with the decision of the government as they will not have to visit colleges in persons and the entire process will be completed at home. While some parents think that with online admission they cannot get proper information about college building, college environment, behaviour of the teachers; the college administrators and principals think that the number of students in colleges is already declining as most of the students in the state are going abroad after 10+2 and many courses in colleges are left vacant. Educated class has an opinion that college admissions should be held in both the modes so that those people who don’t have access to gadgets and are not tech savvy are not left behind in the process.

Sucha Sagar

Technology only saviour in such times

The Covid pandemic has transformed lives of various people engaged in different spheres and changed the way of living. Many changes in the realm of education with online classes replacing physical classroom in continuing teaching and now the impact of cancellation of exams on the student will also have to be assessed. During these times of pandemic, technology is the only option that we are left with. Students who need admission in colleges will have to adapt to the new normal by switching to online medium for counselling. This is not a new phenomenon, as online international professional exams have been there for a long time. While, online counselling may be a hurdle for students in remote areas or places with limited internet connection, but observing the way the youth has adapted to the digital world, it’s not impossible. In order to remain safe and adhere to Covid prevention protocol, online counselling seems to be the best option. Guidelines should be issued to students for the complete process. Experts should also be fair and patient with the students, as for many it will be their first time. Let us accept this new change and a step in the world of digitalisation.

Dr KS Manchanda

Going online is need of the hour

The pandemic has presented a situation unlike any other that we have seen in recent history. For the state government to be adapting to it is highly commendable. Given that this has been a time of online education and examination and assessment, the provision of online counselling for college admissions, is a step in the right direction. The right to education is one of the most important rights as per international conventions and it falls upon the government to provide access to primary, secondary and higher education. In taking up this step towards having an online portal, the government is keeping up its promise to provide uninterrupted progression for a student, in these unfathomable times.

Indu Aurora

For this, Govt must employ professionals

Online admission to colleges is a welcome step taken by the state government. During Covid, educational institutions resorted to information technology tools more frequently to improve the efficiency of administrative services and effectiveness of academic programmes. In current academic session, especially colleges that impart engineering studies, medical, management education and even institutions imparting degree-level courses across the country, are using internet for admission of students and manage their courses. Online portal on admissions definitely provides utmost convenience to the managements as well as students on a 24x7 basis. On the other hand online procedure also poses lot of barriers on the institutions as well as the students. The students face vivid problems despite the assumption that online facilities are more advantageous than manual ones. These include non-responsive websites, connectivity issues, online payment sites etc. Therefore enough care should be taken by the state government to see that a proper professional and technically sound web designer is approached for making web portal. Students face many problems in online payments due to technological errors. The purpose of online admissions is to provide convenience, save time, bring more objectivity, transparency and speedy transactions over the manual operations. The state government must focus on the management of online process to provide continuous follow-up, updating and customer care to the students and public. Then one can really expect good growth in online admission.

Pankaj Kumar Sharma

Appropriate method at this time

Covid has been wrecking havoc in every nook and corner of the world since last year. It has hit the education sector the hardest, restricting teaching-learning process to online mode. We are left with no other option than to stay within the confines of our house. So, to overcome this, the state government is ready to prepare to set up a portal for online common counselling for college admissions. In my perspective, holding online counselling is the most appropriate method in the present scenario because we have no other option for the same. Everything is being delayed so online counselling can help students to get the admission process done and start preparing for their future. This major decision to make an online portal for counselling is very helpful for students.

Izleen

Facilitation centres could be formed

Online counselling is a better option than holding physical counselling as the latter involves a lot of crowding which could prove dangerous amid the present scenario. It makes the process a lot easy and it is very convenient for the students from various parts of the state to participate in the process. Though, some families who do not have access to Internet may face some inconvenience, the process is largely for the better of students and a move in the right direction. To solve the problem of technology gap, some common facilitation centres can be set up so that the future of students is not jeopardised, while ensuring that all safety guidelines are strictly followed during the whole process.

Jatinderpal Singh Batth

Futile exercise for rural students

The decision to implement common online portal for admission has come at a wrong time. Rural students are familiar with traditional method of admission process that is visiting college but new system will deprive them of this facility to view infrastructure and learning about prevalent teaching processes. Moreover, it will be an additional financial burden on pandemic hit common people as many of the students in the rural belt are not so tech savvy and will have to approach Internet cafe which will be charging them accordingly. Further, a visit to cafe will expose them to risk of contracting virus which will make holding online counseling a futile exercise as it aims to prevent students from the ongoing pandemic by avoiding masses at physical counselling. The new system will be a cash cow for private universities but it will sabotage the state funded and aided colleges in the state. So, the new system of common online portal for admission should not be implemented.

Satpal Singh

Online portal full of flaws, not required

The proposed online admission portal for colleges by the government is unnecessary and full of flaws. It is not practicable as it will lead to harassment of students and their parents, seeking admissions in various colleges in the state

Colleges have their own online portals which cater to the need of the admissions. The government's decision is discriminatory as private universities had been kept out of the preview and they will be benefited with this scheme at the cost of the government-aided colleges. Such systems already announced by the government for BEd and Law Colleges have failed miserably

Thus the decision must be taken back and the colleges should be given more autonomy rather than imposing such arbitrary decisions. Moreover, in Covid times, students and their parents are already facing hardships and the government should not complicate their lives

Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina

QUESTION

Cancellation of CBSE/ICSE Class XII exams has evoked a mixed response. Those wishing to pursue higher studies abroad are baffled. Do you think it will impact the future of students who wanted to enrol themselves in foreign universities?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.comby Thursday (June 10).