Hyderabad: As many as 50 degree colleges in Telangana had zero enrolment in the first phase of counselling via Degree Online Services of Telangana (DOST).
The Telangana degree college associations and Telangana KG to PG educational institution associations alleged that technical glitches in DOST were the reason for this setback.
The associations are worried about the fate of these degree colleges as the Telangana State Council of Higher Education plans to shut down or merge colleges with zero enrolment.
As many as 1,37,874 students had registered for DOST in the first phase of counselling for the academic year 2018-2019.
About 1,21,307 students were allotted seats in the first phase of counselling, while 8,483 students were not able to get allotment in the first phase despite exercising options in the first phase.
Mr Gauri Satish, Convenor of Telangana KG to PG Educational Institutional Associations said, “As many as 50 degree colleges did not receive a single enrolment in the first phase of counselling which is quite strange. What would be the fate of these 50 degree colleges? But instead of supporting and developing these degree colleges, the state government has planned to shut down or merge colleges with zero enrolment.”
He added, “Students and the colleges are suffering because of the technical glitches in DOST. Also, the registration fee for one day is Rs 600 which is high for the students from the rural areas. About 60,000 students have not got seats despite registration in the first phase of counselling. The state government has failed to provide degree education which is the basic qualification for any job these days.”
Mr Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, general secretary of Telangana Degree Colleges Management, said, “While 50 colleges saw zero enrolment, about 200 colleges saw less than 25 per cent enrolment. Also, there was no option of changing from one college to another after the allotment in the first phase of counselling, which was a major drawback for these colleges as most of the students were not opting for colleges in rural areas.”
He added, “We demand that the State Council of Higher Education provide the students an option to move from one college to other in the first phase of counselling. If the government does not provide such an option, then all these colleges with low or zero enrolment will have to be shut down soon.”
Denying the allegations by the associations, Professor R. Limbadri, Convenor of DOST, told this newspaper that, “There are 1045 colleges in total across the state. Out of these, there are 132 government degree colleges and rest are private degree colleges. Many private colleges have managed to secure more than 90 per cent allotment and it is the students who have not opted for even a single seat in over 50 colleges across the state.”
