Srinagar, Sep 11: Vice Chancellor University of Kashmir (KU), Prof Nilofer Khan said that the university continues to remain the “first preference” of students for admissions, saying that the establishment of new universities and expansion of higher education institutions has not affected its admission intake.
In an exclusive conversation with Greater Kashmir, Prof Nilofer Khan said they were “very much satisfied” with the response to its admissions, saying that there was no significant difference in its overall intake despite increasing competition in the higher education sector.
Asked if establishment of new universities like Cluster University Srinagar caused decline in admission response at KU, VC KU said there was no dent to the admission response
“No, of course not. The establishment of new universities has not made any adverse impact on our admissions,” she said.
She said the newly established universities were earlier affiliated colleges of KU but currently competition in the higher education sector was “healthy”.
“Competition is good. It is a healthy competition. Definitely, our faculty, our infrastructure, everything has to take care of it,” the VC said, adding that KU was doing well on the admissions front.
Prof. Khan highlighted the performance of the university’s engineering college and said the Institute of Technology (IoT), Zakura campus, had secured the highest number of admissions among engineering colleges in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our IoT has got the highest number of admissions. And there is no a single seat vacant. Even our NRI quota got filled there,” she said.
The VC said KU’s admissions had increased by 12 per cent last year and that the current admission process was still underway.
“Although our admission has not closed, except some of the payment seats, all our seats have been filled up,” she said.
However, Prof Khan acknowledged that some departments of the university continue to face the challenge of attracting students, saying the issue was not new and had “persisted for several years.”
VC Kashmir University said the varsity had introduced integrated courses in such departments through its Academic Council and other statutory bodies to improve the enrollment.
“Where there was zero admission, we have got some admission in these integrated courses,” she said.
“I hope that enrollment in these programmes would increase over the next one to two years.”
She said their aim was that these departments should not be without any admissions.
On concerns that five-year integrated programmes being introduced by universities could affect enrollment in colleges, the VC said the impact would be limited because of the relatively small number of students joining such programmes at universities.
“How many students will come here? There are around thousands of students in colleges. How many students come here? It is a handful of students,” she said.
She said that some post graduate programmes admitted only 25 to 50 students.
“There will be no difference in admission in colleges. Seats are limited here, except our Arts streams where we enroll around 75 or 80 students. In any science department, there is admission of 12 to 20 students,” she added.
She further said that students who had earlier preferred KU would continue to seek admission there, while the expansion and development of colleges would ultimately benefit students.
Prof Khan said colleges in districts such as Anantnag and Baramulla remained affiliated with KU for a long time and had developed their infrastructure over the years.
“We have to develop those colleges also. If they also get good admission, definitely, the students will ultimately be benefited with it,” she added.
