Odisha students’ not interested to study Plus 3 as over 1 lakh seats still vacant; Latest study shows worrying trend

Are students in Odisha showing zero interest in studying Plus 3? Instead of opting for regular graduate degrees like BA, BSc, and B.Com, the students are more inclined towards professional courses, the new report reveals.

According to sources, two phases of the registration process for Plus 3 admissions ended on July 11. In the first phase, only 92, 247 students have taken admissions out of the 1, 78, 976 students found eligible for enrollment. Likewise, by the end of the 2nd phase, 43, 0000 students were considered eligible while only 30,000 had taken admissions.

Shockingly, at least 56% of seats are still lying vacant across several colleges in the state after the second phase, becoming a matter of serious concern.  When questioned about their choices, students attributed their less interest in graduate degrees to low job opportunities. 

“I did not choose Plus 3 because it takes 3 years, plus it takes another couple of years for B.Ed and then post-graduation. After all the toiling, one has to again prepare for OTET, OSSTET and other government exams for a job. Instead, I preferred getting into Diploma and later Engineering,” said Rajeshwari Mohapatra, a student.

“After my Diploma, I can easily secure a job and become independent. I can free my parents from worries. With a job I can also have other options and opt for other careers with a side income, which is not the case in Plus 3 because there are very less job opportunities are BA, BSc and B.Com,” she added.

Another student, Ashok Jena echoed the same sentiments and said, “There are very less job opportunities after Plus 3. I have seen students from the village and my friends who are sitting at home with no job.”

“Doing Plus 3 is just a waste of three years of my life. So, now I’m doing CA with Plus 3 as a distance course. Instead of going for normal graduation, students are opting for skilful degrees to get jobs quickly,” said a student Santosh Kumar.

The situation is worse in many districts as around 50% of seats are still vacant. 

In the academic year 2022-23, at least 2, 22,980 students had registered their names in a total of 1024 colleges across Odisha. However, 63,422 seats still remained vacant as many students backed out from admission.

In the academic year 2023-24, 2, 71,091 seats were registered in 1047 colleges, while 84, 781 seats remained vacant.

Moreover, in the academic year 2024-25, only 2,37,795 students registered their names in 1056 colleges while the seat capacity is around 2,74,000 seats. Going by the trend, there will be several vacant seats in several colleges across the state this year too.

When contacted, Higher Education Minister Suraj Suryabanshi said that measures would be taken to tackle such a situation.