Bhubaneswar, Oct. 17: The higher education department is all set to start coaching programmes for the National Eligibility Test aspirants in select colleges of Odisha.

The move is believed to come as a relief to a number of students who wish to pursue academics as a career but do not get proper guidance as to how to go about different entrance tests. It will also help Odisha fill up hundreds of teaching posts that are lying vacant for lack of NET-qualified candidates.

In the first phase, the coaching programmes will be introduced in four autonomous colleges of Odisha, including BJB in Bhubaneswar, Gangadhar Meher in Sambalpur, Khallikote in Berhampur and Fakir Mohan in Balasore. The department will collaborate with the Bhubaneswar-based OJAS Education System for the purpose.

The NET, conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, is an essential requirement for recruitment and appointment of assistant professors in universities, colleges and other educational institutions. However, only a handful of students in Odisha have been able to clear the tests. Of around 5,000 students who appeared for the NET last year, only 45 qualified.

Candidates, who have a Ph.D. degree in accordance with the UGC Regulations, 2009, will, however, be exempt from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of the NET for recruitment and appointment in institutes of higher education. However, students prefer this eligibility test to the doctorate degree as the latter is a costlier and more time-consuming option. But, the lack of coaching facilities for the NET in Odisha has been a constraint for aspirants.