Over 5000 Undergraduate Seats Vacant Across Colleges Affiliated to Calicut University

Over 5,000 undergraduate seats are lying vacant in government colleges affiliated with the University of Calicut, Kerala. The situation has arisen after the colleges refused to give admission to the maximum number of students in their undergraduate courses, a report in Edexlive said. Academicians fear that this may stall the state government’s ambitious plan to increase the number of undergraduate seats across colleges.

Rasheed Ahamed, a Calicut University official, told the education news portal that as many as 5,049 undergraduate students could have got admission to 35 government science and art colleges affiliated with the varsity but the authorities of colleges are not using the opportunity given by the university to fill the maximum allotted seats.

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The university has allotted the maximum number of seats in all the government and aided colleges to help students from economically weaker sections (EWS). Reluctant to give admission to students, the college authorities are citing the “inconvenience caused by the larger strength” for denying the seats.

The college authorities are saying that it would not be a manageable task for them when classes are clubbed for common subjects like English and other languages.

Ahamed said that the issue can be resolved by appointing a guest lecturer in colleges. He has also urged the state government to immediately intervene in this matter. “The state government should ensure that the colleges have enough guest faculties and infrastructure facilities to function in full capacity,” Ahamed added.

Through a memorandum, Ahamed has also brought the issue to the notice of Kerala higher education minister R Bindu and the university vice-chancellor M K Jayaraj.

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Even though the government colleges are not filling their maximum seats, the varsity officials have said that more seats can be allotted to them if they want. However, the varsity will also consider the facilities available in the colleges before allocating more seats.

Established in the year 1968, the University of Calicut is the largest varsity in Kerala with 30 post-graduate departments and 395 colleges affiliated with it.

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