Mumbai: Response to a Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed that student intake at colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai (MU) across faculties dipped in the academic year 2020-21. The technology department was the worst hit with student intake falling by 38.5% in 2020 compared to 2019, while faculties like arts and commerce witnessed a dip of 29.2% and 10%, respectively, in the same year. This dip in enrolment has been attributed to the mass migration that took place in 2020 owing to Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. While the student intake has increased in the 2021-22 year, figures shared by the university still show that admissions intake is not as per the pre-pandemic capacity, except for the Law faculty where enrolment went up by nearly 38% compared to 2019.
Experts feel this has to do with classes beginning online across universities, which could have pushed students to opt for universities in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, or worse, drop out of education altogether in pursuit of employment.
“Enrolment has dipped across faculties and state universities, and the dip is higher in rural districts as compared to urban areas,” said Tapati Mukhopadhyay, president, Maharashtra Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (MFUCTO), which is studying the enrolment trends of all state universities.
“The most common reason for the drop in enrolment has been the loss of jobs and income of many families, which pushed students to drop out of education. In some cases, especially tier 3 and 4 cities, students have also dropped out of education because they could not afford to arrange for the infrastructure which included phones, laptops and internet in order to continue their education online,” she added.
The RTI was filed by a city-based activist, Vihar Durve, who said he aimed to find out the drop-out rate amid the pandemic. “I wanted to understand the enrolment trend over the two years of the pandemic, and I had sought specific data on drop-out rate as well. The university, however, has only furbished data on enrolment, which also highlights the plight of students who might be missing out on education due to several reasons. It’s time for the government to study these figures and do something to bring these students back on campus,” said Durve.
The University of Mumbai caters to over 830 affiliated colleges and for years, enrolment had been increasing, which changed in 2020 due to the pandemic. While all other faculties witnessed a visible decrease in enrolment, only law and science faculties witnessed a dip of less than 2-3%. Surprisingly, law faculty has already surpassed the pre-pandemic figures with enrolment surging by nearly 38% in 2021-22.
“Financial status of students and their families has been a major reason for students to drop out of education, especially from private institutes. Online classes were not very practical class friendly, which discouraged many students from opting for engineering in the past two years. Law, on the other hand, manages to attract students year after year because I believe it is easy to follow the curriculum even without practical classes,” said Vaibhav Narwade, professor and senate member of MU.
HT had in August last year revealed how despite the high number of students clearing class 12 exams in the state in 2021, the number of applications for admission to first-year undergraduate degree courses received by MU-affiliated colleges was at a seven-year low.
A total of 3,35,000 students registered for admissions to MU-affiliated colleges and made 5,38,000 applications across courses (a student is allowed to apply for more than one course/college) in 2021-22. However, in 2020-21, MU colleges received 6,50,000 applications, while in 2019, 2018 and 2017, the university received 7,80,000, 8,60,000 and 9,90,000, respectively. Experts had blamed this on high scores awarded to class 12 students last year which discouraged students from making random applications to unwanted courses, thus avoiding competition across faculties.
While MU has not released any statement on this matter, a senior official from the university told HT that a dip in enrolment has been witnessed across all state universities and with changes to the fee structure, these students can be brought back.
“The government, in the last one year, has directed all colleges to reduce their annual fees by cancelling miscellaneous fees for the library, sports, and annual newsletter since classes were being held online. Slowly, the financial situation is also improving and we are hoping to go back to pre-pandemic figures in the upcoming admissions season for the 2022-23 academic year,” said the official.
