Kolkata: The state higher education department conducted a drive to assess subject-wise enrolment across colleges registered under the Centralised Admission Portal (CAP). It is exploring ways to rationalise seats in line with job-market demands and revive student interest.Over 9 lakh undergraduate (UG) seats are available across colleges on the portal. However, data from the past two years shows that only 3 to 4 lakh seats are filled annually, leaving more than 5 lakh vacant. Several college principals believe seat rationalisation is the way forward, as students are losing interest in traditional subjects while many colleges lack modern courses in demand. Sanskrit and philosophy, along with basic sciences such as physics, chemistry, mathematics and statistics, are receiving a lukewarm response.Higher education minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay said on Saturday, “We are pleased that over 1 lakh candidates have returned to higher education institutions, with remarkable participation among women.”Department sources said info was being collected from colleges on the portal to analyse students’ choices, including which courses are most sought after, which are losing traction and why.Although this year’s UG admissions have improved over last year’s, the trend remains largely unchanged for core science and certain humanities courses. Several principals expressed concern over running government-aided colleges amid financial constraints, as infrastructure and maintenance depend heavily on student fees, which are declining because of low enrolment.Bangabasi College principal Himadri Bhattacharyya Chakraborty said, “Filling UG seats is a major concern for us almost every year. While the admission scenario is much better than last year, the trend remains the same for certain courses. It is evident that students are choosing courses that offer strong career prospects.”New Alipore College principal Jaydeep Sarangi added, “Last year, we had very low enrolment in Mathematics. However, this time, 11 of the 30 seats have already been filled, and we are hopeful of filling the remaining seats.”Swami Ekachittananda, principal of Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, said the college had witnessed a decline in applications over the past few years, but the trend has improved this year.“We realised that we must offer subjects aligned with job-market demands. Our Board of Studies maintains close ties with industry leaders and regularly updates the curriculum to reflect current requirements—a practice that sets us apart. Furthermore, our students have direct placement opportunities,” he said.Sharmila Mitra, former principal of Behala College, said that after the institution attained autonomous status, it introduced an industry-aligned curriculum, including subjects such as Cyber Security, AI and Software Development.“After 3-4 years of study, students want job security. We must provide this by keeping the curriculum updated. To curb brain drain, we must revise our course offerings and introduce modern subjects that open up future opportunities in workforce and research fields,” she added.
