Only 20% Assam students opt for science in Class XI this year, reflects dearth of interest

Guwahati: Only about 20% of the 1.53 lakh students enrolled this year in Class XI in the state board affiliated institutions, have opted for science reflecting poor interest in the subject.
The admission process started on July 1 through the online mode, which is being facilitated by the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC). From its previous deadline of July 4, AHSEC has extended the admission process till July 9.
As per the latest data furnished by AHSEC, 30,095 students have taken admission in science, whereas 1,13,839 students, accounting for 74.28%, have been enrolled in arts. In commerce, 9,094 students have been admitted and the lowest 229 (0.15%) got admission in the vocational stream.
Compared to the last academic session, there has been a decline in the percentage of students preferring arts. The percentage was 82.27 last year. In science, though the corresponding figure has gone up from 11.52% recorded last year, board officials said it’s not as expected.
“There has been a huge gap in the number of students preferring arts over science. We are not finding any immediate solution to address the issue,” AHSEC secretary Pulak Patgiri said.
The admission trend shows that the percentage of students choosing commerce remains almost static compared to last year’s corresponding figure of 5.54%.
The trend in the vocational stream is also on similar lines as less than 1% of the admitted students last year favoured the vocational course.