Open House: what can be done to end the stalemate over centralised admission portal?

Govt should withdraw controversial decision

After government colleges, the proposal of Punjab government to launch online admission portal for UG and PG classes in aided and private colleges across the state in order to streamline the admission process under the Higher Education Department has triggered an unsavoury controversy. The authorities claim that it will make the education and study-related endeavours of students more transparent, easier and efficient, the Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising managements, principals associations and Punjab and Chandigarh Colleges Teachers Union (PCCTU) has termed it illogical, arbitrary and discriminatory and threatens their survival. There is a big shortfall in admissions as students are going abroad in large numbers for higher studies. The PCCTU has blamed the chief minister for reneging from his promise to withdraw the proposed centralised admission portal during Jalandhar bypoll campaign. The JAC has decided to organise protests at all colleges in Punjab and Chandigarh from June 1 onwards and boycott the upcoming university examinations. The government decision to conduct final examinations in government colleges and institutions has caused great inconvenience to students as many of them have failed to appear in exams. Moreover, students from poor and marginalised sections will not be able to get admission as they may not be able to deposit their fee online in time. Keeping private universities out of its ambit is another step towards commercialisation of education. The government should withdraw the controversial decision in the interest of student community.

DS Kang

Ensure level-playing field for pvt varsities

Without reaching consensus among stakeholders, the decision of Punjab government to implement centralised admission portal for all courses in private aided and non-aided colleges affiliated to Punjab, Punjabi and GND universities in the state have drawn widespread criticism from their managements, principals and teachers. Despite the government assurance that the latest admission services will be beneficial to students because they can seek admission in multiple colleges and courses, stakeholders have called the proposal dictatorial and a direct attack on the autonomy of colleges which already have a transparent admission process. Fee online payment system is also detrimental to the interests of students from diverse backgrounds and private colleges. They accuse the government of backtracking from its commitment to withdraw it at the time of Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll. In the event of their protests and threat to boycott examination duties, the instructions from the DPI to forcibly impose this decision on the colleges have rubbed additional salt on their wounds. The government should shun its callous attitude, withdraw its decision and address the concerns of these colleges which are compelled to take this extreme step. This has disrupted the examination process with thousands of students unable to appear in their final exams. As some private colleges have started their old admission process, students are in a quandary. The government should ensure a level-playing field for both private colleges as well as private universities.

Parvaan Singh Kang

Admissions through portal to limit fees

The Punjab government launched the centralised portal for admissions to government colleges affiliated to Panjab University, Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University. They have introduced the centralised portal to ensure the youngsters get all services online and making the process easier and efficient. The portal has been fully developed by the Department of Governance Reforms in collaboration with Department of Higher Education that will ensure transparency. The common admission platform will help students to file a single application form for applying in multiple colleges and courses. Online counselling and payment will make the process easy and the private colleges will be in no position to become money making machines by charging exorbitant fee in the beginning of the session. If the government colleges provides quality education, there is no need to support private colleges.

Shashi Kiran

Pvt colleges should accept govt proposal

While private aided and unaided Punjab colleges should have accepted the government’s proposal of operationalising centralised portal for admissions, in the larger interests of maintaining quality education both in professional as well as in academic institutions under uniform structure and future vision. But looking into the financial implications and commercial viability of running such institutions, those private colleges without government aid may be excluded from the centralised process of admissions temporarily till they are financially competent to join the stream. It is assumed that reluctance of these private colleges of not joining the centralised website stems from the fact that these institutions have already become financially unviable due to declining trend of fresh students’ intake and the new system will further worsen prospects of their survival in the state. But ultimately, these organisations will have to either shut their shops or come out with fresh competence to meet new challenges of education.

Jagdish Chander

Revamp Traditional admission process

The state government has started admissions to colleges through a centralised portal. The change from the age-old process is attracting big resentment from aided and non-aided colleges, as they apprehend it will affect their autonomy and consequential dip in admissions will hit them financially. On the contrary, the government claims that the new procedure will streamline the admission process as the students will have more informed choices. Notably, in the wake of increasing trends among students to pursue higher studies abroad, it is essential to improve the domestic educational curriculum by upgrading the processes and teaching skills to the level of international standards. As of now, the network of government colleges is not enough to accommodate all the aspirants of higher education, a majority of students opt privately managed institutions, whose existence is visible everywhere. While some transformation is required to provide quality education in government- run colleges, aided and unaided institutions need drastic reforms to become state-of-the art centres for learning at affordable rates. To raise the standard of education, the state government earlier took an inspiring initiative to send principals of government schools to Singapore for professional training at the undergraduate level. The government further plans to open Centre of Excellence for various academic disciplines and has also announced to undertake common admissions through a single window for all the colleges. While the initiative of the Punjab government to send teachers for overseas training has been creditable as the exposure will abreast them of latest academia trends internationally besides getting motivated to acquire higher level of proficiency in teaching techniques. Along with this thrust to impart quality education, traditional admission process need to be revamped through robust reorientation to create fair and equal opportunities for all. In this context, the government has now announced to conduct fresh admissions through a common portal for all the colleges. Hopefully, this switch over from the primitive ways to tech-savvy system may serve as a catalyst towards potential improvement in the process of admissions to higher level courses. It is certainly to open a broader gateway for the students to choose the academic stream/ institution of their likings. Rationally, the motive behind these decisions of the government is to hone up learning skills, while the online admission mode will cut inordinate delays and provide the students a host of options. However, in view of the significant role played by private players in the education sector, the issues raised by various aided and unaided colleges must be critically examined for the mission to be wholly transformative. Prima-facie, the revolutionary steps taken by the government are in right earnest, lest for vitality it would have been better tried as a tailor made project before application across the board.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Allow college mgmt reservation seats

The number of universities in the past was very limited, but the time changed and model private schools started mushrooming converting education towards money minting machine. The fee structure in government-aided schools is reasonable and within the reach of the middle class families who prefer admissions in government- run schools. The fees structure in private schools is quite high but the infrastructure in these schools and colleges is much better than the government schools. The government also allowed deemed universities, private universities, private technical and medical colleges and the fee structure in these institutions is much higher than the government schools/ colleges. Due to brain drain and better living standards abroad and lust of PR / citizenship has changed the mindset of students towards taking admissions in foreign universities which are charging much more higher than the private colleges/ universities. Lakhs of students from various countries are going abroad for education with their ultimate goal of settling in that countries. The counselling to fill up seats in technical colleges, NIITs, IITs is carried out at national level and with the grade/ marks percentage of the student with a uniform fee structure in almost most of the colleges throughout the country. Most of the managements / governing bodies of various colleges/ universities are in dilemma over the release in delay of government financial aids. The vision towards centralised portal of admission in various streams will be transparent but it will be a loss to the private colleges / universities in regard to their charging of fees structure for various streams. Even though the government is thinking of betterment in the higher education system but it must leave some seats for private colleges/ universities to be filled by them as management quota seats with higher fee. This would help them to run day-to-day affairs of the private educational institutions, besides timely payment of salary to the staff.

RAJAT KUMAR MOHINDRU

Need flexible approach through dialogue

The Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising the managements of non-government colleges of Punjab, principals’ associations of three state universities, and Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union, is boycotting the university exams, basically for the scrapping of the centralised admission portal for colleges. They allege the same is being enforced upon the colleges arbitrarily to benefit the private universities. On the flip side, the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE), Punjab, has been insisting to implement the same for the last three years to streamline the admission process for providing up-to-date available choices regarding courses/subjects at transparent fee and other charges to the students in particular and the public in general. However, to end the stalemate, there is a need to adopt a flexible approach on the part of both through mutual dialogue. The DHE should come forward and incorporate all the colleges in the proposed admission portal, including the constituent colleges of all the state universities, as desired by the JAC, and resolve all their doubts regarding the payment and transfer of fees and funds to the colleges. But the strike and boycott of the exam on the part of JAC are harming the interests of the students and colleges which already are witnessing a shortfall in admissions due to the flight of the youth to foreign countries

Dr Kulwant Singh Phull

Decision similar to junked farm laws

The decision of the state government to float a centralised admission portal for all government aided colleges is similar to the Centre’s decision about three farm laws. As both decisions were taken unilaterally, arbitrarily without consulting the stakeholders. Hence, such decisions are against the principle of natural justice. Though it took more than one year for the Central government to take the controversial farm laws back, I hope good sense will prevail and the state government will take soon its arbitrary decision back. There is no provision in the Grant-in-Aid Scheme for such type of portal, hence it is illegal. Under the provision of this portal, all fees collected from the students would go to the account of Mumbai- based private firm, handling this controversial portal, then it would be forwarded to the respected colleges, thus creating a lot of litigations. All the government controlled universities in the state are crying for shortage of funds, the prestigious Panjab University is getting only seven per cent funds from the state government instead of 40 per cent promised under the agreement. So, instead of unnecessarily interfering in the smooth running of aided colleges in the state, government should pay attention to financially starved state universities.

Naresh Johar

Other varsities follow Panjab University

The idea to provide a centralised portal for admissions to all undergraduate classes in aided and un-aided colleges across Punjab, including autonomous colleges like Khalsa College Amritsar, follows the highly pragmatic and popular pattern adopted in professional colleges like medical / engineering colleges affiliated to Panjab University, Punjabi University or Guru Nanak Dev University. The system eliminates the chance of any bungling at the college level. Obviously, the intention behind centralised admissions assumes that seats are limited and a large number of applicants would be vying therefor. This, however, is in sharp contrast to the ground reality that colleges are actually facing a crisis in admissions and are on the verge of closure. That explains the reasons behind the stand-off against this ‘facility’, voiced together by students, professors and the managements. Panjab University has, however, understood the futility of it and withdrawn itself from the purview of this portal. Other universities too emulate that, the sooner, the better. To me it appears to be a solution in search of a problem.

Prof Mohan singh

Develop simplified, transparent process

Actions must be taken to address the conflict between aided and unaided institutions and the government over the centralised admission site. First and foremost, the parties must engage in an open and constructive discourse. Stakeholder discussions should be held with representatives from both sides, government officials, and education specialists. These consultations can aid in the gathering of varied perspectives and the discovery of common ground and shared goals. To address the colleges’ concerns, pilot programmes testing the feasibility and impact of the centralised admission site can be launched. These pilot programmes would allow us to evaluate the system, identify any flaws or areas for development, and include feedback from all stakeholders. Long-term collaboration and engagement between universities and government are required for long-term solutions. This may be accomplished through consistent communication channels, continuing discussions, and collaborative decision-making procedures. Working together, universities and the government, may establish common goals and create a framework for collaboration that serves both parties’ concerns and interests. Finally, the goal should be to develop a simplified and transparent admission process that benefits all students seeking admission in colleges.

Aarti Rana Chauhan

Centralised portal a positive move

The introduction of a centralised portal heralds a positive transformation characterised by healthy competition among institutions. The competition serves as an impetus for institutions to prioritise academics and research programmes, leading to an enhanced educational environment. Additionally, students stand to reap substantial benefits through a streamlined application process facilitated by the centralised portal. Acting as a unified platform, this portal enables students to effortlessly apply to multiple institutions, thereby alleviating administrative burdens for both students and institutions alike. Moreover, the centralised portal plays a crucial role in augmenting institutions’ visibility by attracting a larger and more diverse pool of applicants. This heightened interest holds the potential to yield candidates of exceptional quality. However, it is imperative that this initiative ensures a high-quality portal free from technical glitches. A seamless and robust system will be vital for its success, enabling efficient processing of applications and smooth user experience. Furthermore, the availability of centralised data resulting from this portal can prove invaluable to the government in designing student-oriented and education-centric policies. The comprehensive information gathered can aid in informed decision-making, allowing for the implementation of more effective measures that address the needs of students and enhance the education system as a whole.

Chetan Verma

Admissions via portal to streamline things

Recently, aided and unaided colleges across the state are at the loggerheads with the government over the centralised portals for admissions. This will further hit them financially. On the other, the government has claimed that it will streamline the admission process and help students make informed choices. I also welcome the decision taken by the Punjab government of introducing a centralised portal for admissions. As it will ensure that youngsters get the latest online services to make endeavours easily and efficiently. Moreover, there will be a full some transparency and ease. A common platform will serve as a central hub for applicants for their end admission journey and students will be able to file single application form to apply for admissions to multiple colleges and courses. Therefore, it will lead to more transparency and efficiency in admission process.

Jasleen Kaur

QUESTION

There has been a rise in cases of youngsters eyeing greener pastures abroad falling victims to fake travel agents. What steps should the government take to check fake travel agents from cheating gullible youth?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to [email protected] by Thursday (June 15).

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