Join MBA or MCA, get laptop, EMI option, discounts

With GTU asking institutes to fill up seats by September 5, professional institutes are going all out to woo students

Yogesh Avasthi

Posted On Sunday, August 21, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/201108212011082102594261e6593b62/Join-MBA-or-MCA-get-laptop-EMI-option-discounts.html)

The rising number of vacant seats in MBA and MCA courses every year has left professional institutes in the state worried. They are now trying hard to woo students with attractive offers.
The management authorities, who till a few years ago, looked hard-pressed to accommodate your ward in these courses, are now keen to welcome you along with freebies and discounts.
Newspapers are replete with advertisements offering you a laptop or discount in the admission fee, while giving you an option of different colleges to choose from.
“If you are a graduate with Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GCET)/Management Aptitude Test(MAT)/Common Aptitude Test (CAT) or any other valid entrance score, join our college and get a free laptop,” reads one advertisement. “Call us for admission at this number and avail of a discount on admission fee,” says another.
When Mirror called up some of these numbers, receivers not only indicated that the fee being quoted was negotiable, some of them right away offered a discount of up to 12 per cent. Some institutes also offered the option of fee payment on interest-free easy instalments.
Authorities mentioned that the trigger to such splash of advertisements in the newspapers is a recent directive from the Gujarat Technological University (GTU), which has asked the management of these institutes to fill up the vacant seats on their own. As per a recent communication, the institutes have to complete the admission process to these professional courses from August 25 to September 5 and apprise the GTU of its status by September 9.
Sources said the directive came as even after two rounds of admissions this year, only 9,922 of the 16,288 seats in MBA and MCA courses had been filled. This means 6,366 seats remained vacant. The number of unoccupied seats was 2,200 last year.
How grave was the situation could be gauged from the fact that in as many as six colleges, not a single student turned up to take admission in these professional courses. Looking at the poor response, about 25 MBA/MCA colleges in the state are planning to close down.
GTU Vice Chancellor A K Agrawal said that it was the inability of these colleges to provide quality education that students were not keen to get admission.
“Most of the colleges have failed to improve the quality of education, which is having a direct bearing on the number of admissions. There are several colleges which have witnessed considerably high number of admissions because they have good faculty and provide high-class education facilities,” he said.
When asked about freebies and discount offers being made by these institutes, Agrawal said it was an attempt to compete with one another, but ultimately only those institutes providing quality education will be able to sustain themselves.