Positive sign-Punjabi University Patiala witnesses major upswing in admissions in Undergraduate Courses
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ June 25,2023
Punjabi University has seen an upsurge in admissions in the ongoing admissions of session 2023-24. All the undergraduate courses have registered a hike as compared to last year in terms of applications, appearance for counselling and fee deposit. The engineering courses which used to attract attention due to less number of admission seekers have attracted more admissions this year. The Vice Chancellor has given the credit of this enthusiastic response to the Punjab Government and Chief Minister for extending helping hand to the university struggling with financial deficit. It is worth noting that the Punjab Government issued a grant of 90 Crore for the first quarter of the ongoing financial year. In the last assembly session Chief Minister reiterated his commitment to continue the monthly grant of Rs 30 Crore for the university.
Punjabi University Patiala offers a large variety of undergraduate courses in thirteen different branches on its main campus situated at Patiala, which include B.Tech courses in Computer Science, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering, B.Com and MBA Integrated courses and courses in Physiotherapy and Pharmacy.
In 2021, a unique set of Five Year Integrated Programmes (FYIP) in six streams of Sciences and Humanities were added to the courses being offered at the main University campus. The FYIP courses are unique in character, having a strong inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary component, and are offered in the streams of Languages, Performing and Visual Arts, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Biological Sciences and Physical and Chemical Sciences.
Students who take these courses have the flexibility of choosing majors and minors from the entire basket of university-wide open electives. For instance, a student majoring in Physics could take an open elective in Music, while a student majoring in Film Studies can take an open elective in Biology. Every student majoring in Languages is exposed to six different languages, namely, Punjabi, English, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit and Persian. This year, a clear upswing of interest was witnessed across the board in all the FYIP courses. In Languages, 572 applications were received this year for 120 seats, as against 558 applications last year. In Mathematics and Computer Science, 482 applications were received this year for 167 seats, as against 358 applications last year. In Physical and Chemical Sciences, 372 applications were received this year for 100 seats, as against 310 applications last year. In Social Sciences, 978 applications were received this year for 190 seats, as against 902 applications last year. In Biological Sciences, 248 applications were received this year for 100 seats, as against 226 applications last year. Over 300 applications were received for 130 seats in the Performing and Visual Arts FYIP.
Overall around 3000 students competed for placement in these highly coveted 807 seats in the FYIP courses, as compared to 2600 students last year. It was also observed that more meritorious students applied for these programmes this year, and the first cut-off was closed at around 90% in the 12th Boards.
BTech courses, in which admissions have been declining in the past years, saw a major upswing in the current year. While all 223 seats in Computer Science were filled rapidly, the seats in both Electronics and Communication Engineering and Electronics and Computer Engineering streams also saw an overwhelming response from students, with all the seats being filled. In Mechanical Engineering, last year only 29 students had taken admission, while this year 51 students have already deposited the fees and more are expected to take admission in the next rounds of counselling. In Civil Engineering, last year only 42 students had taken admission, while this year 71 students have already deposited the fees and more are expected to take admission in the next rounds of counselling.
Interestingly, for the Physiotherapy course, over 500 applications have been received for 30 seats in this course.
Positive sign-Punjabi University Patiala witnesses major upswing in admissions in Undergraduate Courses. Prof. Arvind, Vice Chancellor of Punjabi University, said that the credit for this resurgence in admissions goes to the Punjab Government and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s dedicated efforts to revive the University’s ailing finances. He said that the University is contemplating increasing the number of seats in courses such as Physiotherapy and some BTech streams, where the student interest in taking admission has been overwhelming. The increase in interest in taking admissions is also a clear sign Prof. Arvind said, that given the right kind of encouragement, young students do want to stay back in Punjab for higher education.
