Bhubaneswar, Nov. 28: At least 473 educational institutions have been issued showcause notices by the higher education department for poor enrolment and bad results in the last two academic years.

Colleges with less than 10 students will be asked to explain as to why their affiliation should not be withdrawn. An expert committee would review the status of colleges with low admission rates and the reason for low turnout of students. Accordingly, the department will consider de-affiliation of colleges that have shown poor response.

Even after three rounds of admission sessions, nearly 80,000 seats lay vacant in various junior colleges.

There are 1,282 junior colleges in the state with an intake capacity of 3,07,776 students, of which only 2,30,505 seats were filled up this year.

The colleges issued notices include Plus Two and Plus Three colleges, Sanskrit colleges and professional colleges. Around 37 professional colleges, including five from Khurda and two from Cuttack, have been issued notices. Similarly, 40 junior colleges from Khurda and 21 colleges from Cuttack have been asked to explain the reasons for poor enrolment and bad results.

“These explanations will be put forward at a high power committee meeting for consideration,” said an official.

The huge number of vacancies came to the fore after the introduction of the e- admission process, by which the status of enrolment for many of these colleges could be ascertained. Earlier, a number of colleges in the state used to show fake enrolment that remained in pen and paper.