Dental

Not many takers for seats in private dental colleges

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, SEPTEMBER 02, 2018 00:00 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 02, 2018 04:30 IST

High fee structures keep students away from self-financing institutions

High scores in NEET have resulted in tougher competition this year.

The Hindu had indicated (‘Rise in pass percentage could see competition intensify’ published on June 5) that the competition was likely to be tougher in the MBC category.

Tougher competition has not, however, led to more students seeking admission to self-financing colleges. Though medical seats under management category were filled, the same did not happen for dental seats.

Vacant seats

At the end of counselling for government quota seats in self-financing dental colleges on Thursday, 284 seats remained vacant.

Last year, 265 seats remained vacant in management quota even after the second mop-up round. Counselling for management quota seats ended on Saturday with a total of 569 seats remaining vacant. There will be another mop-up round to fill the vacancies next week, officials said.

High fee structures, sometimes double of what has been stipulated by the fee fixation committee and the prospectus, have left students stranded, despite having good score in NEET.

Harrowing experience

Kantesh Kumar Singh, father of a medical aspirant, who after a harrowing experience in a self-financing college last year, approached the DME and the Health department for reprieve, but got none. He termed the mention of “tuition fee” in the State’s MBBS prospectus as ambiguous.

Despite seeking details under the Right to Information Act, no response was forthcoming, he added.

The fee fixation committee has determined Rs. 6 lakh as tuition fee, but colleges routinely flout the norms and demand as much as Rs. 8 lakh per annum.

Poor response has forced at least one college to announce that it would charge government-stipulated fee only.

But it has probably come too late.

The Directorate of Medical Education has also proposed to conduct one more mop-up round in the first week of September.

The Dental Council of India has given time till September 15 to complete the admission process.

There will be another mop-up round to fill the vacancies next week, officials said