Mysore/Mysuru:  Over a century-old University of Mysore (UoM) seems to be losing its popularity, given the dwindling number of admissions to at least nine of its Departments at Manasagangothri campus, hinting at the possibilities of shutting down those Departments in the near future.

As per procedure, any student willing for getting admission into any of the Post Graduate (PG) courses at the Varsity, has to write the entrance test. A minimum of 100 candidates must enrol for the entrance test. The toppers in the test results have the chances of getting a seat.

Speaking to Star of Mysore on a disappointing note, UoM Vice-Chancellor Prof. N.K. Lokanath said that in the current academic year, over 20 courses received applications below expected lines with the Varsity cancelling the entrance test for the same. While nine courses received less than 15 applications, staring at the possibilities of shutting down those departments.

This unsavoury trend is primarily attributed to the fall in number of admissions at the UoM since the past two years, especially after the Varsities were established at every districts. The UoM, once boasted of 232 affiliated colleges under its purview. In the previous academic year, over 9,000 students had sought admission, which has now reduced to 5,119 this year, with 4,833 students among them appearing for entrance test, he said.

In all, UoM offers 58 PG courses, but 20 courses among them lack adequate number of applications.  To be precise, merely two applications have been received for each of MA in Hindi, MSc Information Technology and MA in Sanskrit, while three have been received for MSc in Animation, nine for MSc in Human Resources Development, 11 for M.Tech in Material Sciences, 12 for MA in Anthropology and 13 for MA in Urdu.

As per norms, a minimum of 15 applications must be received for each of the courses.

A minimum of 40 students and maximum 60 students are allowed for admission to each of the Departments.

For the Departments having 40-seat limit, 30 are offered under Government quota and 10 under payment seat. Among 60 seats, 40 are of Government quota and 20 payment quota.

Reasons for dip

Apart from aforementioned reasons for the dip, there are other factors adding up to this negative trend. The lack of permanent teaching faculty, competition posed by the private educational institutions, lack of emphasis on campus recruitment by the Varsity and unabated caste politics among the teaching faculty.

A retired Professor, who preferred to remain anonymous, rued over how the presently recruited teaching faculty is indulging in several other businesses, showing scant concern to flicker the fame of the Varsity, with his or her teaching acumen.

The UoM itself is a brand that earned the funds of the Central Government under Centre of Excellence. It was also distinctly apart, when compared to other Varsities, with the Certificate of UoM, carrying a star value and the successful PG students and Ph.D holders enjoying a scope in their respective fields. Now, the Varsity is losing its star value, the retired Professor said.

Dr. H. Maridevaiah, former President of UoM Research Scholars Association said, there are inadequate fulltime teaching faculty in all the Departments. While the number of retirees is increasing year on year, the teaching is being handled by majority of 70 percent of guest faculty, denying the possibilities of offering quality education.

‘Quality education can be assured only by a qualified teacher’

Prof. K.S. Rangappa, a former VC of UoM said, “Every other districts have a University, which makes it natural for the students of Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Hassan districts  to take admission there itself than coming to Mysuru. Another reason is lack of qualified teaching faculty, with the Government not recruiting qualified teaching faculty. Quality education can be assured only by a qualified teacher. Students should be facilitated by creating a conducive atmosphere, which if implemented may avoid chances of shutting down departments.”

‘Form Expert Committee to elicit opinion of HoDs’

Immediate Past VC of UoM, Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar said, the slab on minimum admission of students to Departments should be reduced from 15 to five students. Apart from online, the students must be provided a direct access to apply for the courses. Some courses like MA in Urdu has been constantly receiving lesser applications. The norm of admissions should be reduced to five for at least one year, before mulling over shutting them down over a period of time. Along with this, an Expert Committee should be formed to elicit the opinion of Heads of Departments (HoDs) and seek a report, to initiate action to improve the admissions. In the inevitable conditions, the Departments may be shut down, he noted.