Govt PU colleges see spurt in demand for seats

Dharwad: Government PU colleges in the district, which usually face shortage of students, are now seeing a sudden spurt in demand for seats, thanks to 100% results in the recently held SSLC examinations.
Earlier, only those students who could not afford seats in private colleges were seeking admission in government colleges, but now the scene has changed. One can find long queues in front of government PU colleges.
The state government has announced that offline classes for Class 9, 10, and I and II PU will commence from August 23 in the districts that have Covid positivity rate of less than 2% but students are still sceptical about offline classes continuing hassle-free. “Instead of paying huge fees and getting admitted at a private college to attend online classes, it is better to get enrolled in a government college for less fees” said Sanotsh who has got admission in a government college.
Dharwad district has 27 government PU colleges and all the seats are full in almost all colleges. Government PU colleges in rural parts of the district were facing shortage of students but now they are seeing students thronging to get admitted. “The fees in government colleges is meagre and in the event of lockdown and closure of offline classes, we can meet our teachers in local colleges. So I decided to take seat in a local government college,” said Ashok Patil of Hebsur in Hubballi taluk. The department of PU education has launched an enrolment drive on the lines of the one launched by the department of primary and secondary education. The officials of the department have collected information of all students who have passed SSLC and approaching their parents to persuade them to get their ward admitted to the government college.
There are 39 aided and 110 unaided private colleges in the district and there also seats are full. Following an appeal by MLC S V Sankanur, the PUE department has enhanced the maximum number of students in a division from 80 to 100 subjects on the condition that the college should have necessary infrastructure to cater to the needs of additional students. Some colleges have also been permitted to start additional divisions without seeking additional teaching staff.
According to the office of the deputy director of PUE department, last year 23,000 students had taken admission to I PU in government and private colleges. This year more than 29,000 have cleared SSLC examination from state syllabus and 10,000 students from CBSE syllabus have been promoted. As a result, the number of students seeking admission to I PU has gone up to 40,000.
“Our college has facilities like class rooms, library, laboratory etc., to cater to the additional students but we have shortage of permanent staff as the department has not given the nod to fill the vacancies. We are running the show by hiring teachers on temporary basis. The government should permit recruitment of permanent staff,” said principal of an aided private college.