Delay in government arts and science college admission puts pressure on students

Though more than 3.1 lakh students have already registered online from July 20 to July 31 and also have uploaded their certificates, the process to admit students to 109 government and aided arts and science colleges, which provide free and subsidised education up to postgraduate level, is yet to begin. There are 92,000 seats in various science, arts, and vocational streams.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next that list of candidates who had registered online has been sent to the respective colleges. “However, due to the pandemic situation, the admission process is being delayed,” the official said, adding that calls were pouring in from students and parents to enquire about admissions.

According to him, the Directorate of Collegiate Education is trying to admit all students seeking admissionthrough the online process that is underway.

However, as the government has not released the exact dates for the college admission formalities so far, many students have started approaching private institutions, which are already preparing to conduct online classes for the fresh batch.

“I had applied for B Com at a government college in Chennai. But there is no intimation from the government about the beginning of admissions till now. Therefore, I approached a self-financing college in the city and got the seat by paying the fees,” said P Kumar, a student who passed out from a State-run school.

Some of his classmates hailing from economically backward families are no able to afford the fee that private institutions charge, he said. They are now concerned whether there would be more delay in commencing admission to government colleges.

S Hemalatha, one of the students who could not afford the fee, has approached an NGO that promised to pay the fee charged by private college. “Further delay in admissions to government colleges could affect students like me,” she rued.