ARTS GAINS MERIT ON FIRST LISTS...

Rising Cut-Offs Show That Even Students Who Score High In Class X Are Opting For The Humanities In Junior College

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Unlike in Delhi, Class X students in India’s commercial capital usually do not flock to the humanities stream. Most high scorers in Mumbai opt for science or commerce. But this year in some of the city’s top colleges, there has definitely been a steady increase in arts cut-offs, showing that even high scorers are opting for the stream.

At St Xavier’s College, Dhobi Talao, one of the country’s most popular colleges for humanities, the arts cut-off stood at 88% for ICSE students and 86.5% for SSC students, a good 2 to 3% more than last year’s scores. Not surprisingly, thanks to the marks normalisation scheme, which aims to put SSC scores on par with those of the ICSE and CBSE boards, St Xavier’s saw an increase in the number of SSC students making it to the merit list. Around a third of the students on the arts list were from the SSC stream.

In the case of St Xavier’s, those with phenomenally high scores opted for the arts stream. The merit list opened with a whopping 96.62%. The numero uno spot was occupied by an SSC student. The top 54 slots in the merit list for St Xavier’s College were occupied by students who had scored 90% and above in Class X. Most of them were either from the SSC or the ICSE stream, with only one CBSE student appearing.

At Ruia College, the arts cut-offs rose by about 4 to 5%. Last year, the cut-off for arts in the first merit list in this Matunga-based institution was 80%. This year, it stood at 84.02% for SSC students and over 85% for ICSE and CBSE.

“Cut-offs for arts have gone up dramatically. It goes to show that several students, despite high percentages, are taking up arts. Students passionate about this stream are getting in, irrespective of how high their score may be,’’ said Suhas Pednekar, Ruia College principal.

At Jai Hind College, counters for arts closed at over 82% for ICSE and CBSE students, 2% higher than last year’s 80%. “This goes to show that bright students with high scorers are increasingly opting for the arts stream,’’ said Kirti Narain, Jai Hind College principal.

MAKING THE A-LIST: Students at Maharshi Dayanand College, Parel crowd around the notice board displaying the first merit lists for admission to junior college on Thursday