Over 8,000 students here are unsure about getting seats in Plus II in their desired colleges, thanks to non-availability of seats.
While the Government is planning to enhance the seat capacity and introduce new streams/ subjects in colleges in the State, the existing infrastructure of the colleges in the backward district here is not sufficient to accommodate the rising number of applicants for Plus II courses.
The district has remained most backward especially in the field women literacy, which according to the 2011 Census stands at 35.80 per cent.
Women literacy in higher education is also very negligible. Women education in the district is a major challenge to the contemporary system. According to intellectuals, there is an urgent need to strengthen higher education in the district.
The 21-year-old Nabarangpur Women’s College, the only institution of its kind in this tribal-dominated district, has 128 seats in Plus II. Nearly 2,000 students have applied for getting admission in the college.
Notwithstanding the repeated demands from various quarters to increase the seats and introduce new streams in Plus II, no action has been taken in this regard yet.
Similar situation prevails in the colleges of Nabarangpur, Dabugam, Kodinga, Umerkote, Raighar, Chandahandi, Maidalpur, Papadahandi
and Jharigam. The SC and ST Development Department has already upgraded three high schools and Kanyasharams to higher secondary schools (Plus II). But that is not sufficient.
Meanwhile, the State Government’s decision to enhance the seat capacity and introduce new courses in various Government colleges has raised a ray of hope for the anxious students.