The Andhra Pradesh Private Pharmacy Colleges Management Association (APPPCMA) has once again urged the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to increase the number of student intake in the pharmacy colleges from the existing 10 to 25 students for M Pharm course and from 60 students to 120 students for B Pharm course.

The increase in students intake has been a long pending demand of the private pharmacy colleges in the state for the effective utilisation of available resources, said Andhra Pradesh Private Pharmacy Colleges Management Association (APPPCMA) general secretary T Jayapal Reddy. As these colleges already have a well established infrastructure including a well qualified Principal, they will be in an advantageous position to impart quality education to the students. APPPCMA and other state associations have once again represented to the AICTE in this regard.

APPPCMA pleaded that the number of B.Pharm pharmacy colleges in the country has increased considerably during the last few years. There are more than 800 pharmacy colleges in the country at present, which was around 300 a couple of years ago. With such an increase in the number of B Pharm colleges, these colleges alone require a large number of faculties with M Pharm degrees. Presently, these colleges are facing acute shortage of competent faculty to provide quality education. Besides, there are shortages of M Pharm students for the pharmacy business also.

The number of intake for the M Pharm course should be raised from 10 to 25. At present, only 10 students are given admission in the first year followed by 15 to 18 students intake in the third year. In order to make these colleges financially viable to maintain Ph D qualified faculty and also to give best scientific education to the students, the AICTE should consider to allow 18 students in the first year and 25 students by third year, APPPCMA said.

The private pharmacy colleges have also demanded to the AICTE to increase the number of intake for the B Pharm course from the existing 60 students to 120 students for the effective utilisation of physical infrastructure available with these colleges. They have asked the AICTE to raise the faculty-students ratio from the existing 1:15 to 1:20 for the pharmacy education to make it more practicable.