Mangaluru: With barely a week left for the new academic year to commence, govt pre-university colleges in Dakshina Kannada are once again struggling with poor admissions, with several institutions managing to fill less than 50% of their seats so far. The situation is particularly alarming in rural and semi-urban areas. While only a handful of urban colleges have reported comparatively better enrolment, raising concerns ahead of the reopening of classes next week.Vanitha Devadiga, principal, Govt PU College, Balmatta, said 400 of its 500 seats have been filled with commerce seeing the highest demand. Classes will resume next week, even though the admission process is not complete, she said,.However, the Govt PU College for Girls in Derlakatte, which became an all-women’s college last academic year, has received only 35 admissions so far in arts and commerce. Principal Satyaprema K said the college expected at least 50 new admissions, but the response has remained weak. She said inadequate infrastructure is a major reason for the poor turnout. The college is currently functioning from makeshift classrooms, though the government has sanctioned Rs 2 crore for new facilities. Construction work, however, is yet to begin.At Government PU College, Shakti Nagar, only 35 students have enrolled so far against an expected 50. Principal Jayanand Suvarna said an early academic schedule has affected admissions. He also pointed out that many boys take up part-time work and tend to join only after classes begin. Also, several students from north Karnataka have not yet returned from their native places. Since admissions remain open until the end of June, many are delaying their applications.Department sources said Dakshina Kannada has 55 government PU colleges, but only a handful, mostly in urban areas with better faculty strength, consistently attract good admissions.
