Srinagar, Jan 30: The five-year integrated courses offered by the Universities has thrown up a major challenge for the Higher Education Department (HED) to attract students for UG programmes at college level.
Over the years, the Universities across J&K have started offering five-year integrated courses due to which the students directly move towards the varsity, leaving the degree college without students. The trend has started at a time when the government has established 52 new degree colleges over the last few years to provide students more access to higher education. The colleges were established with an aim to take higher education to the door steps. However, most of the newly established colleges receive lukewarm response from students, defeating the purpose of the establishment of these institutions. Lukewarm response to the newly colleges and Universities offering five-year integrated courses has put the HED in a tight spot.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Director Colleges J&K, Prof Sheikh Aijaz Bashir acknowledged that the Universities offering five-year integrated programmes was a challenge for the department.
“We accept this as a challenge at the UG level, since we have also started certain PG programs in the college, but we accept this as a challenge because universities are also going now into integrated programmes,” he said. He said the Universities were giving a five-year solution to a student in terms of an integrated programmes.
“Universities are offering UG programmes now but how far they will carry it, that’s a matter of debate, but the point is that it is not going to impact us,” he said. He said that HED caters to large number of students from different corners of the J&K. “But my appeal to students will be that they should not focus moving towards such colleges which are established (old colleges). New colleges have also come up with an excellent infrastructure,” Prof Sheikh Aijaz told Greater Kashmir.
He said that students should not only aspire to seek admission in old colleges but in the newly established ones which are situated in their nearby areas. “If a student from any district, like Baramulla, aspires to seek an admission, it is not necessary for him to come to Baramulla Boys College only. He can go to other colleges of the district as well,” he said. He said the newly established degree college in Baramulla like GDC Hadipora, Bumai and other areas have also good infrastructure. “We are trying to bring higher education to the doorstep but that is not being accepted by the students because they still prefer old colleges,” he said.
Director Colleges further said that society (parents) has a role to play in it to convince students to seek admission in new colleges, he said. When asked that new colleges do not offer different courses than old colleges, Director Colleges said that the department is mulling to start new programmes in new colleges. “We are trying to create hybrid models also in terms of programmes. We are working on that. We are looking towards our universities, our Board of Studies also, to give us new ideas,” he said.
