For the third year in a row, Class 11 aspirants will have to deal with delays and chaos during the admission process.

To balance the low scores of secondary school certificate (SSC) students, the state education department has come up with a proposal to only consider written exam scores of non-state board students for first year junior college (FYJC) admissions. The plan, however, is awaiting a nod from the human resources development (HRD) ministry and CBSE and ICSE boards, until which the admission schedule can’t be announced.

The delay and confusion have upset parents, students and principals. “Many of us had already pointed out that the decision to scrap oral exams – which is being blamed for the dip in SSC scores – was a flawed move. While the government is mulling mechanisms to level scores, it seems like a time-consuming exercise. Students should not be made to suffer owing to the failed policies of the government,” said Prashant Redij, spokesperson of the Mumbai Principals’ Association.

Anubha Sahai, president, India wide Parents Association, said,

“We are not in favour of the policy, as it is not just for students from other boards. Changing the admission criteria is a fundamental decision which can’t be taken without modifying the bylaws of the board. Parents will move court if the state implements it.”

In 2017, the state education department hired a Noida-based firm, NYSA Asia, to handle the admission process replacing the old guard, MKCL. Scores of students from across Mumbai region, which includes Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts, complained that they couldn’t submit their forms as the website was slow, and kept crashing. The department had to keep extending the application deadlines, thus delaying the process.

In 2018, the admission process began on a smooth note, but was interrupted after the first merit list was announced, owing to an ongoing case in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. The court asked non-minority colleges to surrender their quota seats only at the end of the Centralised Admission Process (CAP), delaying the second merit list and changing the entire seat matrix. “Every year, colleges start after the second week of August, thus getting very few days to teach. The government should look into its policies to prevent delays,” said a principal of a city-based college.

AADITYA MEETS CM

Expressing concern over students’ low percentage in SSC exams, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday. Aaditya demanded that students with lower percentage be accommodated in the colleges and oral exams be re-introduced.

First Published: Jun 13, 2019 11:24 IST