The Chief Minister has announced that the government proposes to permit four new evening colleges in the State in the coming academic year so as to ease the rush for admissions. Every year the number of students completing their Class XII in all four streams, and seeking admission to degree courses, is increasing leading to many students not getting admission in the institute of their choice and being forced to settle for some other college. The proposal to start four new colleges is meant to come as a relief to the students who just got their results last week and are worrying about admissions. But this is still only an announcement of a proposal. There is a long process before the proposal turns into a fait accompli by the government, and only then will college managements that are interested be able to apply for permissions to start new colleges. The CM also made it clear that this proposal will not require new infrastructure, but that four existing colleges will be permitted to use their infrastructure to have evening classes.
The Class XII results have been announced and, in the chief ministers own words, the ‘results were impressive’. There was a record pass percentage of 90.10 up by two percent from last year with over 13,800 students passing. That is certainly going to create a rush for admissions in colleges across the State, with many opting to go outside the State.
Colleges are beginning their admission procedure, toppers have already gone for interviews and admission tests outside Goa, and only now is the State government waking up to the fact that there is a need to increase the intake of students at the college level and proposes four new evening colleges. There’s about a month before the new academic year begins. Is there enough time before then for the process of starting a new college to be completed? This is something that should have been planned months ago and the process completed before the Class XII results could be announced so students know in which college they can apply for admissions. The competition is so great, that students in Class XI, and in some cases even earlier, have already set eyes on the colleges of their choice. Colleges have also become very choosy in their student intake and have set high cutoffs for admissions. In past years, certain colleges have not sold their prospectus to students who have not got a certain percentage.
As matters stand at this point, by the time the new colleges are given permissions, it will be only those students who have not got admissions elsewhere who will be waiting the start of these evening colleges. Last year Goa had witnessed the phenomenon of a rush for admissions in certain colleges and demands that these increase their intake, while many other colleges had vacant seats and no applicants. Against this scenario, the new evening colleges that will come up quite late in the admission procedure could suffer from lack of quality students, resulting in a poor performance right from inception, a reputation that is difficult to shake off easily.
While it is commendable that the government is proposing new colleges, the timing should have been better. So close to the new academic year starting, the process for starting the colleges should have been completed and students aware of what choices they had. The need for new institutions of higher education was known last year and the decision should have been taken at that time. Matters related to education should be given serious and timely consideration and not treated cursorily by the government.
