The Higher Education Department (HED) has issued instructions to the Government Degree Colleges (GDCs) to launch aggressive outreach campaigns to attract students following the decline in the admissions in the newly established Government Degree Colleges (GDCs) this year.
The move comes despite the claims of the J&K government that HED witnessed a 12 per cent increase in overall college admissions this year.
An official said the overall increase in admissions is mostly due to the overwhelming response of the students to the existing (old) colleges while the newly established colleges are witnessing lukewarm response from the students.
In the wake of the steady decline in admissions in the newly established Colleges, the institutions across J&K have constituted teams of faculty members to visit villages, interact with students, parents, civil society members and local stakeholders, and create awareness about undergraduate admission opportunities.
The outreach initiatives include door-to-door campaigns, community meetings and on-the-spot admission facilitation in an attempt to arrest the declining enrolment trend that has emerged as a major challenge for the Higher Education Department, particularly in colleges established in recent years.
One such campaign was recently undertaken by a Government Degree College in the Kund area of Kulgam district, where faculty members visited several localities to facilitate walk-in admissions for B.A. Semester-I students for the 2026-27 academic session.
The team also met civil society representatives to publicise available seats and subject combinations.
An official said the local students were also being encouraged to act as ambassadors by motivating eligible candidates in their respective areas to pursue higher education and take advantage of walk-in admissions.
The official further said that similar outreach efforts undertaken by several colleges have yielded little improvement in admissions.
Among the worst-affected institutions is one of the colleges in Baramulla district, which is struggling with persistently low enrolment for the past several years.
The college, which had recently come under scrutiny over administrative and academic issues, has managed to secure only 29 admissions during the current admission cycle despite extensive awareness campaigns.
The institution had earlier figured in official discussions over its long-term viability, with some officials reportedly questioning the feasibility of continuing colleges with extremely low student strength and suggesting closure of the institution.
In an effort to revive admissions, the college has intensified community engagement programmes and mobilised National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers to assist faculty teams in reaching out to prospective students at the grassroots level.
Meanwhile, an official told Greater Kashmir that despite repeated interactions with civil society groups, non-governmental organisations and community leaders, the campaigns have so far failed to substantially improve enrolment or restore students’ confidence in government degree colleges.
The declining admissions in newly established colleges are contrary to the government claims that overall admissions in higher education institutions have increased by 12 per cent this year compared to the previous academic session.
The move has raised questions about the uneven distribution of enrolment and the future sustainability of several government colleges with dwindling student strength.
As already reported by this newspaper, the newly established colleges have failed to attract students for the admissions.
As per the official figures assessed by the Greater Kashmir, 100 out of 142 degree colleges registered less than 100 admissions each after two rounds of admissions.
As per the official figures produced during a high-level review meeting of the Higher Education Department (HED) chaired by the minister for education Sakina Itoo few weeks ago, the admission trends had thrown up a major challenge for the government.
In the wake of the challenging situation, the government decided to constitute a committee to seek feedback and suggestions for improving admissions in the newly established colleges.
