The decision of the University of Calicut to increase the number of seats for undergraduate (UG) courses in government, aided and unaided colleges for this academic year could be a repeat of what happened last year. Sources, however, said it might come into effect only after the second allotment.
The Syndicate passed a resolution to increase the number of seats at its meeting on Friday. An official told The Hindu on Saturday that last year, the Higher Education Department had allowed a rise in intake in arts and science colleges across the State. It was highlighted as an attempt to help students who normally flock to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for higher studies, but could not do it because of the pandemic.
“This time too, it could be portrayed as an achievement of the government rather than an academic exercise. So, the university may wait till an official declaration comes from the Higher Education Minister,” the official pointed out. Normally, seats are hiked in colleges every academic year by a method called ‘marginal increase’, wherein applications are invited from those who are interested in it. Aided and unaided colleges used to benefit from the exercise, and those in the government sector were left out owing to bureaucratic reasons. Since last year, however, there has been no such practice, as the increased seats are given to all colleges before the allotment.
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Until last year, most colleges had a sanctioned strength of 60 for UG arts and science courses, while a few institutions were permitted to admit more students on the basis of facilities. The number could have gone up by 15 seats or so, and it will go up again this time. In Calicut University, who will benefit from this is anybody’s guess. Of the total 400 colleges affiliated to it, around 300 are in the unaided sector.
Private registration
Another development that may kick off a row could be the decision to increase the fee for graduate and UG students who had sought private registration in 2020-21. The university is yet to get back University Grants Commission (UGC) recognition for its distance education courses, and students are forced to opt for private registration. Only registration fee and exam fee are to be charged from them, which could be around ₹2,000 a year. Now, the university has decided to increase it to around ₹3,000. An official said the around 35,000 students had sought admission in the previous academic year under private registration. “The university is supposed to get an additional revenue of ₹10 crore through this. The authorities are justifying their action, saying once the UGC recognition is back, these students could be added to the distance education stream, where the fee is already higher,” he added.
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