Colleges aim to gain from Inter success

The rise in the Intermediate exam pass percentage may provide a way out of the ongoing financial crisis, feel hundreds of degree and professional colleges in the state. With more than 4.5 lakh students securing the pass marks in the Inter exams this year, colleges in the state are hopeful that their financial situation will improve.

Many of these colleges are not even in a position to pay the salaries of their teaching and non-teaching staff members. Several engineering colleges have not been paying the salaries for the past four months. In some cases, the faculty members had taken to streets demanding payment of dues.

The state currently has 1,926 degree colleges with an intake of 4,63,250 students and 657 engineering colleges with an intake of 2,25,907 students. Many more are expected to come up this year with fresh approvals from the government. All these colleges depend on students who pass Intermediate exams for admissions.

Last year, the Inter pass percentage was a little over 60 per cent and a significant number of seats had remained vacant. This year, since the pass percentage has gone up by four per cent, the seat occupancy figures in colleges too are expected to improve. “Last year, the supply was more and the demand was less due to poor Inter results. Most of the students who had passed opted for engineering colleges leaving degree colleges in the lurch. Now, with the increase in pass percentage, the demand for seats will rise,” said Mr Shankar Samala, a representative of degree colleges association.