Hyderabad: UG colleges want extension in degree admissions

Hyderabad: Degree college admissions through the unified system DOST are almost over, but counselling for engineering, medical and dental and paramedical courses are still going on. Counselling for these courses is expected to be completed by the end of July. The last date of registration for DOST ended on Wednesday.

Telangana Degree College Managements said many students who don’t make it to the professional courses or do not get a good enough course or college opt to do their graduation. 

Such students will suffer if DOST is closed before their counselling elsewhere is over. The managements demanded that the deadline for degree admissions be extended. 

Some educationists said the government was closing degree admissions early because it was working to reduce the burden of scholarships and fee reimbursement.

Mr Vijay Bhasker Reddy, general secretary, Telangana Degree and PG College Management Associations, said, “Thousands of students who are trying for admissions into professional courses have not yet made their decision. Hence, we demand extension of time for degree admissions.”

He said several students who were allotted seats in degree colleges have not joined for various reasons. With the third round of admissions complete, such students are unable to use the sliding option to change colleges.

The managements wanted this to be allowed. The council should allow private un-aided degree colleges to fill up vacancies after the concludion of the final phase of DOST, the association said.

Mr Srini Bhupalam, an education expert, said, “Until last year counselling for engineering, medicine, pharmacy and DOST used to happen in a sequence.’’ 
He said completing DOST counselling early “defies logic and common sense.” He attributed this to the government wanting to reduce the scholarship and fee reimbursement burden.

Asked about this, Mr Naveen Mittal, commissioner of Telangana Collegiate Education, said, “For engineering and NEET students we will be conducting a special round of counselling from July 5 to July 7. It’s a misconception that students will face issues if DOST is closed.”

He said engineering conselling would go on till the end of July. “If students want to take admissions in degree colleges, they have to make up their mind as soon as possiblie. We are going to give maximum chances.”

He said that as Eamcet counselling was linked with DOST, officials had taken care to avoid any issues. “All the common applicants and confirmed applicants have been removed already. Only 2,000 students are common applicants and there are still 20, 000 seats vacant in engineering courses,” he said.