PANAJI
After Higher Secondary Schools in Goa currently struggling to accommodate students seeking admissions in Class XI for the Arts, Commerce and Vocational streams, it is now the turn of Goa University affiliated colleges offering non-professional degree courses to burn the midnight oil and manage the student intake process for the current academic year.
Dozens of these colleges across the State are currently crunching numbers to prepare an admission merit list which they are mandated to announce by August 10 and the high pass percentage thrown up by the Goa Board's pandemic dictated assessment criteria has led to a mis-match between demand for seats and their intake capacity.
Officials at the directorate of higher education had streamlined the admission process to some 35 colleges, both the government and private aided, via a centralised online portal. The first round took nearly a fortnight between July 20 and August 3, in which students mentioned their first, second and third choice colleges they wish to enrol in.
Each of the colleges will now compute a merit list for admission which the DHE has mandated to be completed by August 10.
DHE officials however expressed confidence that all students will eventually get accommodated after many students forego their seats and instead opt for professional and technical degree courses based on their scores in the Goa Common Entrance Test (GCET) and other national competitive exams such as NEET and IIT-JEE.
Goa has 35 undergraduate colleges offering non-professional degree courses including some newer niche employment oriented streams like hospitality besides the common BSc, BA, BCom and the IT-oriented Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).
Options for a 5-year Bachelor of Law, a degree in music and another in home science are also available through government colleges.
According to DHE officials, once the admission merit list is finalised by all the colleges, the department will then assess the position seats filled or vacant and open a second round of centralised admission process after August 10.
Nearly 11,500 students have applied for a degree seat but DHE officials said, a chunk of them will forfeit their seats and instead opt for professional degree courses based on their scores at GCET and later at the NEET and IIT-JEE, besides other autonomous institutions such as BITS.
Vacancies will arise at a later date as and when students secure admissions in professional colleges, the DHE official said, adding that all intent on pursuing degrees will be assured of a seat in the State's colleges.
