Shutdown Syndrome ?
A pharmacy college in Surat is shutting shop because it has no takers. Eight colleges have discontinued diploma courses. Thirty colleges without PCI approval have been kept out of admission mock-rounds
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Monday, June 20, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011062020110620010454364af1d047a/Shutdown-Syndrome.html)
What once used to be the most preferred course after medicine and engineering, has hardly any takers today. The waning popularity of B Pharm can be gauged from the fact that several colleges admitted not more than 10-12 students for the course last year while some did not have even a single student apply for admission. The situation is going to be worse this year, say sources.
One such college, Vidhyadeep College of Pharmacy at Kim in Surat has written to the state government stating it wants to shut shop. Eight colleges have decided to discontinue their diploma courses. This is just the beginning of the shutdown syndrome for pharmacy colleges, sources say.
As many as 30 colleges in the state offering B Pharm have been kept out of the mock rounds for admission to professional courses as they are yet to receive approval from the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). It is mandatory for colleges to get approval from PCI every four years if they want to continue their courses.
Last year, more than 90 per cent of pharmacy colleges offered huge discounts and even came up with EMI schemes to fill up the seats. Not more than 10 years ago, reverse was the trend – parents were ready to pay hefty donations to get their children a B Pharm seat.
M N Patel, member secretary of Admission Committee for Professional Courses, said, “The state government has given Vidhyadeep College of Pharmacy in Surat permission to close down. Like last year, this year too several pharmacy colleges across the state will see empty seats. By 2012, at least five-seven more colleges are likely to down their shutters. Usually colleges send requests to the fee regulatory committee saying they need to hike their fees, but this year no such application was received from any college since their enrolment is on a decline.”
He added, “If a pharmacy college wants to run a course, it should have an approval letter from the PCI. This year, ACPC had asked colleges to submit their PCI-approval letters. While 20 colleges told ACPC that they are waiting for PCI-approval, 10 of them chose not to reply. These 30 colleges have not be listed for the mock rounds of admission this year.”
Meanwhile, the first mock round of engineering admissions shows that nearly 15,000 seats will remain vacant because of the skewed demand-supply ratio. This means, students need not hurry to secure seats in management quota, sources said.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Monday, June 20, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011062020110620010454364af1d047a/Shutdown-Syndrome.html)
What once used to be the most preferred course after medicine and engineering, has hardly any takers today. The waning popularity of B Pharm can be gauged from the fact that several colleges admitted not more than 10-12 students for the course last year while some did not have even a single student apply for admission. The situation is going to be worse this year, say sources.
One such college, Vidhyadeep College of Pharmacy at Kim in Surat has written to the state government stating it wants to shut shop. Eight colleges have decided to discontinue their diploma courses. This is just the beginning of the shutdown syndrome for pharmacy colleges, sources say.
As many as 30 colleges in the state offering B Pharm have been kept out of the mock rounds for admission to professional courses as they are yet to receive approval from the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). It is mandatory for colleges to get approval from PCI every four years if they want to continue their courses.
Last year, more than 90 per cent of pharmacy colleges offered huge discounts and even came up with EMI schemes to fill up the seats. Not more than 10 years ago, reverse was the trend – parents were ready to pay hefty donations to get their children a B Pharm seat.
M N Patel, member secretary of Admission Committee for Professional Courses, said, “The state government has given Vidhyadeep College of Pharmacy in Surat permission to close down. Like last year, this year too several pharmacy colleges across the state will see empty seats. By 2012, at least five-seven more colleges are likely to down their shutters. Usually colleges send requests to the fee regulatory committee saying they need to hike their fees, but this year no such application was received from any college since their enrolment is on a decline.”
He added, “If a pharmacy college wants to run a course, it should have an approval letter from the PCI. This year, ACPC had asked colleges to submit their PCI-approval letters. While 20 colleges told ACPC that they are waiting for PCI-approval, 10 of them chose not to reply. These 30 colleges have not be listed for the mock rounds of admission this year.”
Meanwhile, the first mock round of engineering admissions shows that nearly 15,000 seats will remain vacant because of the skewed demand-supply ratio. This means, students need not hurry to secure seats in management quota, sources said.
