Most Moulvibazar colleges face acute student crisis

Some colleges in rural areas may be closed down for lack of students, their authorities apprehend.

August 30 is the last date for admission to HSC classes in collages under Sylhet Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board. But according to reports available from different areas, most of the collages have failed to fill up seats.

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Around 2000 examinees passed in the SSC examinations in the district this year. The pass percentage was 49 percent.

Out of the 20 colleges in Moulvibazar district, eight including three government colleges are reputed and well established.

The rest 12 were set up when SSC pass percentage was much higher than now.

Moreover, in last seven years, some high schools in the district opened X1 and X11 classes. This has also reduced the number of students seeking admission to colleges, sources said.

Of the colleges in the district, four are in Sadar upazila, two in Rajnagar, five in Kulaura, three each in Kamalganj and Srimangal, two in Baralekha and one in Juri upazila.

Two of the government colleges are in Moulvibazar district town and another is at Srimangal upazila headquarters.

The 20 colleges have a total of 6000 seats in class X1, including 1500 in the three government colleges.

Against this, only around 2000 students passed in the SSC examination this year.

Talking to this correspondent, Prof Md Quresh Khan, Principal of Rajnagar Degree College, said HSC seats will remain vacant in large members in most of the colleges in Moulvibazar.

He alleged that the government colleges are enrolling more students in each group than their quota of 150, fixed by the education board. This has also added to the students' crisis in private colleges.

Md. Mushfiqur Rahman, Principal of Shah Mostafa College at Moulvibazar town, claimed that the three government colleges also enroll students getting GPA 2.