COIMBATORE: The Directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE) is planning to close undergraduate courses with student enrolment of less than 10% at government arts and science colleges across the state. Recently, senior officials from the DCE held a meeting with the regional joint directors (RJDs) of collegiate education and college principals, and sought reasons for the “consistently poor admissions” for these courses every year.
The principal of a government arts and science college in Coimbatore, who did not wish to be named, told TNIE, “At present, modern courses are being introduced in private colleges, while only traditional courses have been offered to students in government arts and science colleges for the past decade. Most students prefer commerce-related courses in government colleges.” Many students also prefer joining modern courses available only in private colleges, the principal added.
“Admissions are particularly low for courses such as Mathematics, Physics, History and Tamil in some government arts and science colleges. Students are reluctant to join, allegedly due to a belief that studying these subjects leads only to low-paying teaching jobs in educational institutions, and no other opportunities,” the principal pointed out.
A DCE official told TNIE, “Officials had planned to close undergraduate courses where admissions were below 10% in previous years. Moreover, they have planned to introduce newer courses which are in demand in colleges.” He added that this decision is currently in the planning stage and is yet to be implemented officially.
Former president of the Tamil Nadu Government Collegiate Teachers Association T Veeramani said that the DCE, while starting new colleges in rural areas in recent years, should have conducted a proper assessment before introducing new courses.
“For instance, the Mathematics course at the Thalavadi college, which is a rural institution in Erode, now has only one student enrolled. Courses there should be based on actual need,” he urged.
This story is reported by N Dhamotharan