‘I’m thinking of 15L students who benefit’
Anahita Mukherji | TNN
TOI caught up with education secretary Sanjay Kumar on Friday to ask him about this year’s troubled junior college admission process. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Admissions have been chaotic this year and a lot of students have been affected. A: Don’t pass judgments. Ask questions of you want to. It is very unfair of you to pass judgments. When you say a lot of people have been affected, have you done a plebiscite to find out how many?
Q: Why was the percentile system introduced after the admission process began?
A: The matter is sub judice. I will not comment on the percentile system.
Q: Your government resolution (GR) says that in areas where there is a centralised system of admission the top five or ten scores from each board can be considered while calculating percentiles, while everywhere else only the top ten scores are considered. In Nagpur, the top five scores are being considered. In Mumbai, the top ten scores are being used. Why the difference?
A: I am not aware of this (in Nagpur).
Q: The GR is ambiguous. It is worded in such a way that it suggests that the percentile system should be introduced at the college level. In other words, colleges should use the top ten scores of each student from a particular board who apply to that college.
A: I told you that I will not comment on the percentile system. The matter is sub judice.
Q: I’m simply asking you to clarify what’s on the piece of paper that the government has come up with.
A: But this piece of paper is being contested in court.
Q: A lot of people think the percentile system is unfair to some boards.
A: I am thinking of the 15 lakh students who will benefit, not just the 10,000 students over here. If you only speak to ICSE students, you will get one side of the picture. If you speak to SSC students, you’ll hear
something else.
Q: If the state government feels its own education board is losing out as students from other boards are scoring higher, why not ask the state board to be more liberal with corrections instead of introducing the percentile system?
A: How can we ask the board to give students more marks?
Q: Wouldn’t that be fairer than the percentile system?
A: You have not understood the percentile system. I will not comment on the percentile system.
Q: As far as the 70:30 policy is concerned (where 70% of seats in junior college are reserved for students from the same district), why was the circular sent to colleges after the first merit list was already out?
A: The circular was based on a 2003 government resolution. We were only reminding colleges to implement a rule already in existence.
Q: But why didn’t you remind colleges before admissions began?
A: We only reminded them when we received a complaint that the rule was not being implemented. It is not our duty to remind colleges. The rule already exists.
Q: But this rule has not been implemented for the last five years.
A: So what if it has not been implemented. We will only issue circulars to colleges when there is a complaint against the system.
Q: Do you have the machinery to check whether the system is being implemented?
A: I will not comment on it.
Q: Isn’t it important to study the geography of a region like Mumbai before implementing a district-wise quota for students. Many popular colleges in areas like Matunga and Sion fall in the South Mumbai district, though they are located on the border of South Mumbai and the suburbs. Why should a student from Colaba be given preference while applying for a seat in these colleges instead of a student from a neighbouring suburb like Bandra?
A: But we are not preventing students from outside the district from seeking admission to these colleges.
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com
Q: Admissions have been chaotic this year and a lot of students have been affected. A: Don’t pass judgments. Ask questions of you want to. It is very unfair of you to pass judgments. When you say a lot of people have been affected, have you done a plebiscite to find out how many?
Q: Why was the percentile system introduced after the admission process began?
A: The matter is sub judice. I will not comment on the percentile system.
Q: Your government resolution (GR) says that in areas where there is a centralised system of admission the top five or ten scores from each board can be considered while calculating percentiles, while everywhere else only the top ten scores are considered. In Nagpur, the top five scores are being considered. In Mumbai, the top ten scores are being used. Why the difference?
A: I am not aware of this (in Nagpur).
Q: The GR is ambiguous. It is worded in such a way that it suggests that the percentile system should be introduced at the college level. In other words, colleges should use the top ten scores of each student from a particular board who apply to that college.
A: I told you that I will not comment on the percentile system. The matter is sub judice.
Q: I’m simply asking you to clarify what’s on the piece of paper that the government has come up with.
A: But this piece of paper is being contested in court.
Q: A lot of people think the percentile system is unfair to some boards.
A: I am thinking of the 15 lakh students who will benefit, not just the 10,000 students over here. If you only speak to ICSE students, you will get one side of the picture. If you speak to SSC students, you’ll hear
something else.
Q: If the state government feels its own education board is losing out as students from other boards are scoring higher, why not ask the state board to be more liberal with corrections instead of introducing the percentile system?
A: How can we ask the board to give students more marks?
Q: Wouldn’t that be fairer than the percentile system?
A: You have not understood the percentile system. I will not comment on the percentile system.
Q: As far as the 70:30 policy is concerned (where 70% of seats in junior college are reserved for students from the same district), why was the circular sent to colleges after the first merit list was already out?
A: The circular was based on a 2003 government resolution. We were only reminding colleges to implement a rule already in existence.
Q: But why didn’t you remind colleges before admissions began?
A: We only reminded them when we received a complaint that the rule was not being implemented. It is not our duty to remind colleges. The rule already exists.
Q: But this rule has not been implemented for the last five years.
A: So what if it has not been implemented. We will only issue circulars to colleges when there is a complaint against the system.
Q: Do you have the machinery to check whether the system is being implemented?
A: I will not comment on it.
Q: Isn’t it important to study the geography of a region like Mumbai before implementing a district-wise quota for students. Many popular colleges in areas like Matunga and Sion fall in the South Mumbai district, though they are located on the border of South Mumbai and the suburbs. Why should a student from Colaba be given preference while applying for a seat in these colleges instead of a student from a neighbouring suburb like Bandra?
A: But we are not preventing students from outside the district from seeking admission to these colleges.
anahita.mukherji@timesgroup.com
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