Exponential growth of self-finance sections raises concern over quality of education

Some colleges have 12 to 15 sections for B.Com. alone and conduct classes in shifts; these colleges also lack experienced faculty; most of the faculty have just one or two years experience

With the demand for seats in basic arts and science courses growing, several government aided colleges are admitting students under the self-financing courses. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

Exponential growth in student enrolment for self-financing courses in government aided colleges affiliated to the Bharathidasan University has raised concern over the quality of education.

Out of 158 affiliated colleges and institutions of the Bharathidasan University, 15 are government aided colleges. Most of them are in Tiruchi.

Until about 10 years ago, they did not offer courses beyond their purview. However, in addition to regular courses, they began to admit students under the self-financing mode for the courses affiliated to the university about a few years ago. The number of students under the self-financing mode was negligible in initial stages. But it has witnessed an exponential growth over a period of time.

Thenumber of students under the government aided programme constitutes just 10% to 15% of them. Remaining students are given seats under the self-financing mode. As the demand for basic arts and science courses continues to go up, the government aided colleges expand classrooms to cash in on the demand. It is alleged that they admit as many students as possible in anticipation of getting course affiliation from the university. The number is almost the same for the computer science department. They have 12 to 15 sections for B. Com. alone and they conduct classes in shifts.

“How can we expect quality of education in colleges that have a huge strength. The managements have to devote their time and energy mainly to avoid problems among students,” said A. Mathivanan, said a retired professor.

Many academicians raise question on basic infrastructure of the colleges to handle huge number of students. It is alleged that the colleges, except for one or two, did not have experienced faculty members to take classes. Most of them have just one or two years of experience in teaching.

David Livingstone, president, Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers’ Association, said the State government had a great responsibility to ensure quality of education in government aided colleges that admitted students under the self-financing mode. An effective mechanism and monitoring process should be in place to check whether the colleges had all necessary infrastructure to handle huge number of students.