Teachers raise red flag over dip in enrolments for regular courses

MUMBAI: There is an overall declining trend in enrolment to regular courses in the University of Mumbai (MU). The enrolment data provided by MU in replies to questions by Bombay University and College Teachers Union (BUCTU) Senate members shows an overall dip of 13% from 2019-20 to 2020-21 in the entry point of regular courses in science, commerce and arts. Tapati Mukhopadhyay, president, Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (MFUCTO) and Madhu Paranjape, general secretary, BUCTU, tell HT what the dip means.

What do the declining numbers for enrolment at the entry point for regular courses mean?

In case of Mumbai and Thane districts, the decline in entry-level enrolment is 13.8 and 13.9 %, respectively. The overall decline is highest for first-year (FY) BA (Bachelors of Arts) at 17.1%. Though there are inter-district variations in the enrolment, in Mumbai district, there is a decline in enrolment in all faculties. In regular courses like BA, Bcom (Bachelor of Commerce) and BSC (Bachelor of Science) enrolment has declined from 2019-20 (prepandemic period) to 2020-21 (pandemic and lockdown period) at entry level (first year) by 18,098. These three courses account for 61% of enrolment in 2019-20.

What does enrolment in different districts say about demand for courses?

For science, the decline in FY enrolment in BSC is 12%. However, it varies from almost nil in Palghar to 19% in Thane and 21.8% in Sindhudurg. The highest dropout in BSC from FY to SY is in Mumbai district at 47.8%. The drop in Raigad was at 17.1%, 15.6% in Sindhudurg, 14.2% in Ratnagiri, 11.4% in Thane and lowest in Palghar at 7.8%. Altogether, 4,944 students from FY science (27.2% ) did not take admission to SY.

In the arts faculty, the district-wise decline in FYBA enrolment varies from 12.8% in Mumbai to 21.3% in Sindhudurg and 25.5% in Raigad. Further, the drop in enrolment from FY to SY is highest in arts faculty. District-wise, the proportions of this decline were 35.6% in Mumbai (3,486 dropped), 40.3% in Raigad, and varied from 24 to 29% in other districts.

For commerce faculty, the FY enrolment in Bcom has declined by 11.9%. However, district-wise it varies from a 2.5% increase in Ratnagiri to 14.6% decline in Mumbai. The highest enrolment of students in MU at entry point is in commerce faculty. There is a total drop of 17,236 students from FY to SY, which is 18.6%.

What do the percentages in decline mean?

The average drop from SY to TY by 2.8% appears marginal. In absolute numbers it is 3,327. However, this may not reflect the actual decline because of the policy of unconditional promotion – necessitated by the lockdown – led to clearance of a backlog of admissions in finalyear due to multiple ATKTS (allowed to keep terms) at intermediate semesters and added to the numbers admitted from SY to TY.

What are your suggestions to the university?

The current year’s enrolment data is crucial. If the above trend continues, many fundamental courses will lose the threshold of entry point and face closure. At this juncture, MU proposed to start new colleges. While students will be deprived of higher education, many teachers will be surplus. It’s imperative that the government takes new policy measures in consultation with all stakeholders to save institutions, subjects, students and staff.