E-Paper
Ludhiana | College teachers term enrolment drive a futile exercise
The teachers in SCD College on Wednesday requested Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi to help them get rid of the enrolment drive , citing that the college already has a high strength
While the state education department is counting on college teachers to increase enrolment in the upcoming academic year, the latter are not too pleased with the assignment.
The teachers have been asked by the education department to tour schools in the district to encourage Class-12 students to apply at their respective colleges, but they say it is a futile exercise. According to sources, even prominent colleges have been asked to enroll at least 2,400 applicants in each course through school visits.
Teachers say that due to this task, they are struggling to make time even for lectures.
“Each teacher in my college has been directed to get at least 40 students from schools. Teachers are visiting faraway places to encourage students to get enrolled with us. Moreover, at a few private schools, we are made to feel unwelcome as the authorities there feel it is a waste of their time, especially when students are busy preparing for Class 12 boards,” said a government college teacher.
A professor from another government college said, “Earlier, we were caught up with election duties and vaccination drives, now there is the enrolment drive. We sometimes have to skip our lectures to visit these schools. Moreover, Class-12 students don’t come to schools daily as their boards are nearing.”
Moreover, teachers say, the timings of colleges have been increased due to the enrolment drive. According to a teacher, college timings till December were 9am to 2 pm, but now it has been extended to 9am-3:40 pm.
Teachers have been asked to get registration forms filled by probable students even before their Class 12 final exams.
According to college teachers, this is sheer wastage of energy, time and resources as only those who would match the cut-off criteria of the colleges would get admission and rest of the students, despite showing interest would not get through.
“The exercise should have been assigned to newly opened colleges or less popular institutes. Most colleges here, including the government colleges, don’t need any publicity. This marketing attempt will only leave a negative impression on parents’ mind,” said a teacher.
Meanwhile, some teachers in government colleges are also worried that the classrooms may not be able to accommodate all these students.
“Of a total 150 teachers working here, there are only 18 teachers who are regular and they also remain busy in non-academic tasks. The bureaucrats are trying to project high enrolment in Punjab, but colleges in the state rank low in performance index in the country,” a teacher at a government college stated.
The teachers in SCD College on Wednesday requested Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi to help them get rid of the exercise, citing that the college already has a high strength. The MLA, according to the teachers, has assured to take up the matter with the concerned ministry.
