The report states that the past year has seen a drop in admissions in undergraduate and post-graduate courses. In Mumbai University itself, which has jurisdiction over seven districts, admissions to undergraduate courses dropped by 19 per cent in the past year, causing the university Senate to call for a meeting to discuss the worrying numbers.

Among the reasons for low admissions to even undergraduate courses was the loss of income, the inability of families to afford expensive technology for online learning, full fees demanded by colleges, etc. The Senate has demanded that the university form a committee to seek financial aid from the government for poor students.

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While one can blame the university’s late response on the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, it nevertheless had the wherewithal to act a lot sooner. Offering easy fee payment options could have been a major factor in at least halting the dropout rate.

The government, too, cannot ignore this very real problem and needs to quickly step up and allot funds to mitigate this crisis. If not addressed immediately, this issue has the potential of becoming a lot more difficult to tackle than it currently is.