Admissions to UG, PG courses at Mumbai varsity see huge drop

Mumbai district ranks top in districts with low enrolment in UG courses this academic year. File pic

The pandemic has severely affected students across the state. There has been a huge drop in admissions enrolment in undergraduate courses affiliated to the Mumbai University. In Mumbai city, the suburbs and Thane area, enrolment has dropped from 1,90,336 in 2019-20 to 1,57,299 in the academic year 2020-21. The situation is similar in post-graduate courses. Mumbai University Senate members discussed the issue on Saturday.

Mumbai district ranks top in districts with low enrolment in UG courses this academic year, compared to last year with 19 per cent less enrolment. It is closely followed by Thane with 17.7 per cent decrease. The University has jurisdiction in seven districts with its affiliated colleges - Mumbai - city and suburbs, Thane, Raigad, Sindhudurg, Palghar. In the last academic year, from all these together, a total of 2,23,927 students took admissions to the first year of UG courses. This dropped to 1,87,188 students this academic year; a dip of 36,739.

Senate member Dr Aarti Prasad, said, "People have lost jobs in the pandemic, there is a major financial crisis families face and many students are missing out on higher education. Parents are not able to pay the fees, many do not have access to smart phones or the Internet for online learning. Colleges are asking full fees. We have demanded that the varsity form a committee to review the situation and seek financial help from the government for needy students."

But Senate members feel when it comes to PG courses, it is also the failure of Mumbai University to create relevant courses, good material, etc to attract students. As per Sudhakar Tamboli, senior Senate member, the Department of Marathi has the highest vacancies this year with 126 vacant seats followed by the department of Hindi with 121 vacant seats. "The University has an elaborate PG plan with several departments but little is being done to attract students. Several departments are showing a drop in the enrolled numbers over past few years," said Tamboli.

Responding to the concerns, Pro VC Dr Ravindra Kulkarni said, "In case of UG courses, the pandemic is a major factor and we have come to a conclusion in the Senate meeting to take efforts to help students to gain access by way of financial or equipment support such as smart phones or internet connections. The varsity had, earlier too, encouraged philanthropic initiatives with this objective."

Elaborating on the varsity's plan regarding PG courses, Dr Kulkarni said, "Departments with similar courses will be brought together under an umbrella body so that together they will be able to take care of different responsibilities such as branding of the courses, placement process, attracting students, offering flexible courses to increase enrolment, etc."