Nearly 30% UG seats in govt arts & science colleges vacant

SEVERAL government arts and science colleges in the Coimbatore region, which comprises Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, and Erode districts, are struggling to fill up the undergraduate seats even as the classes for the current academic year started a month ago.

- N DHAMOTHARAN @Coimbatore

Colleges in rural areas in particular are finding it hard to get enough students.

An officer told TNIE that till Thursday (July 10), 71.82% of seats have been filled in the 22 government colleges and admission is continuing. She said that last year's enrolment was 71.59% in the Coimbatore region.

As of July 5, out of 13,564 seats in the 22 government colleges, 9,347 seats have been filled, leaving 4,217 seats vacant, reveal admission data with the TNIE.

The Chikkanna Government Arts College in Tiruppur stands out with the highest number of seats filled: 951 out of 1,008 seats (94.35%). Conversely, Government Arts and Science College at Thalavadi had the lowest occupancy, with only 41 out of 300 seats (13.67%) filled.