GTU flooded with closure pleas by pharma colleges

At a time when we are trying to pin Gujarat's name on the global pharma map, this news may prove to be a wet sock for the heightened efforts. While the state is home to major pharmaceutical companies and has earned a tag of being a pharmaceutical hub, its institutes, however, fail to reciprocate the same enthusiasm for the subject.

Dwindling interest in the subject has resulted in seven institutes applying for closure of pharma courses to the Gujarat Technological University (GTU) from next academic year. The list of applicants also has Dharmaj-based pharmacy institute. It appears that lack of potential job opportunities in the sector may have been a big put off for students' interest in pursuing studies in diploma, bachelor and master of pharma.

The GTU has so far received around 19 closure applications for different courses in engineering, pharmacy, MBA and MCA. Of this, around 37% is for closure of pharmacy related courses in rural parts of Gujarat. Again, four institutes have applied to the GTU to reduce intake in pharmacy courses in bachelor degree.

Seniors in the field of education opine that student disinterest may be a result of imbalance in demand and supply ratio, which has led to lackluster job opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector.

According to available information, there are around 90 colleges that offer courses related to pharmaceuticals. Put together, number of seats available in these institutes is 6,200. Of this, only 2,200 seats were filled up last year while a whopping 4,200 seats remained vacant.

According to senior officials in the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC), out of the 90 colleges, 12 colleges did not get any students while in 46 other colleges got students in single digit. "Students of group A and B can get admission in the pharma sector. Hence, if a student, who got admission in pharma also gets admission in engineering later, he/she would opt for the study that will offer a better pay at the end," said a senior GTU official. 

"The situation has resulted from imbalance in supply and demand. There are 6,200 seats in pharmacy. However, are there as many jobs for students after the study?" asked MN Patel, member secretary of ACPC. Patel further said that a same situation will arise for the subject's master degree course too as there are 3000 seats for the course while not more than 2,200 students only will graduate in the subject. "If all of them opt for master degree in pharmacy, around 800 seats will still remain vacant," he said.  

Manish Doshi, executive council at the Gujarat University said that affordability and poor quality of laboratory and infrastructure is also a problem staring at pharmacy education. "Majority of the pharmacy colleges are self-finance colleges that charge huge amounts as course fee. However, these colleges do not have adequate infrastructure and laboratory for pharmacy students' growth. The government has also failed in providing research laboratory for the benefit of students," he alleged.