According to JACMPC officials, the reason for dental seats falling vacant was high
fees
The opening up of new medical colleges and the addition of
seats in existing colleges may hit admissions to dentistry courses.
Last year, 172 seats in dental colleges were vacant because of lower cutoffs for
medical courses. And this year, with the increase of 450 seats, the officials of
the joint admission committee for medical and para-medical courses (JACMPC ) fear
that as many as 400 dental college seats could be wasted.
According to JACMPC officials, the reason for dental seats falling vacant was high
fees. Moreover, dentistry had lost its shine as a career option, they said.
Annual fees for a self-financed medical college is nearly Rs. 3 lakh, while a self-financed
dental college would charge over Rs. 2 lakh a year. A student who can afford Rs.
2 lakh will be willing to spend a lakh more for medicine, an official said.
Officials say that the state has 2,405 seats for MBBS and 900 for bachelor of dental
surgery. At least 4,857 students qualify for these 3,305 seats. Looking at initial
trends, there is a possibility that because of the increase in medical seats, not
many students would opt for dental courses. The official said that of the 4,857
students, around 15% would seek admission only in government-run grant-in-aid colleges
where fees are much lower. An official calculated that around 20% of students are
from the middle-income group who cannot afford high fees and hence would opt for
pharmacy or other para-medical courses where the fees are lower. In all, 11,746
students who cleared Class XII exams from the GSHEB had applied for admission in
para-medical and medical courses.
Courtesy: Times of India
