Still few takers for two new model colleges in Nagaland

Overall enrolment in higher education surges 

Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 9
Two model colleges in Nagaland — one at Mangkolemba and another at Wakching — which commenced as full-fledged Government Colleges from the academic session 2023-24, are yet to attract significant enrolment, according to an official report.

As per the Annual Administrative Report 2024-25 of the Department of Higher Education, the New Model Degree College at Mangkolemba under Mokokchung recorded an enrolment of just 19 students in the 2024-25 academic session. This marks an improvement from the previous year’s enrolment of just 9 students, the report highlighted.

The college was established on April 20, 2023, under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA 2.0) as a full-fledged degree college.
Meanwhile, the New Model College at Wakching under Mon District was proposed during the 12th Five Year Plan under RUSA and was eventually established on April 20, 2023, with the mission to achieve broad objectives of access, equity, and excellence in higher education in the under-served district. The college is affiliated to Nagaland University and offers a B.Sc. Honours programme in four subjects — Botany, Chemistry, Physics, and Zoology — under the Four Years Under-Graduate Programme (FYUGP).

However, enrolment at Wakching stood at mere 7 students in the 2024-25 session, up from 4 last year.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA), four new Model Degree Colleges have been approved for Noklak, Tseminyu, Shamator, and Niuland districts, the report stated.

Besides, three infrastructure upgradation projects under the Grant to Strengthen Colleges scheme have been approved for Dimapur Government College, Zunheboto Government College, and Fazl Ali College, Mokokchung. Furthermore, three Gender Inclusion and Equity Initiative projects have been approved for Dimapur, Kohima, and Mokokchung districts.

Despite the low enrolment in the two new Model Colleges, the overall number of students in Government colleges surged between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic sessions.

According to the report, total enrolment increased from 6,179 in 2023-24 to 10,436 in 2024-25, denoting a rise of approximately 68.89%.
Kohima College led Government colleges in enrolment with 1,897 students in 2024-25, followed by Kohima Science College (Autonomous) with 1,744 students and Dimapur Government College with 1,610. Fazl Ali College, Mokokchung, also recorded over 1,000 enrolments, standing at 1,401.

Among private colleges, St Joseph College (Autonomous) had the highest enrolment at 3,996, followed by 1,823 at Tetseo College and 1,763 at Unity College. Other private colleges with over 1,000 enrolments included Baptist College -1,508, Patkai Christian College (Autonomous)-1,433, Don Bosco College-1,168, and SD Jain Girls’ College -1,073.

Altogether, enrolment in 54 private colleges in Nagaland surged from 12,236 in 2023-24 to 22,479 in 2024-25, representing an 83.71% increase.