Ahmedabad: More than two-thirds of seats in Gujarat’s nursing and paramedical colleges remain vacant after three rounds of admissions, raising concerns over the viability of self-financed institutions even as over 100 new colleges have reportedly sought approval to start courses.Of the 53,206 seats across 1,095 colleges, only 16,954 have been filled, leaving 36,252 vacant. With Oct 30 being the deadline to complete admissions, the intake panel has authorised self-financed colleges to fill vacant seats directly, subject to admission rules and eligibility criteria. Admitted students must also be enrolled with the respective councils and universities.Meanwhile, the Gujarat Professional Nursing and Allied Medical Educational Courses Admission Committee (GPNAMEC) has announced a fresh choice-filling round for 444 vacant seats in govt colleges. Candidates can submit their choices from Oct 13 to 16.These vacancies include 145 seats in auxiliary nurse midwifery (ANM), 133 in general nursing and midwifery (GNM), 98 in physiotherapy, 46 in BSc nursing, 15 in orthotics and prosthetics, and seven in BASLP courses.The admission data paints a worrying picture of low enrolment across institutions. As many as 138 colleges have failed to admit even one student. Another 57 colleges have admitted just one student each, while 57 have admitted two students and 52 have admitted three. A further 133 colleges have enrolled between six and 10 students each.Overall, 1,015 colleges have recorded relatively low admissions despite the availability of thousands of seats.
