ATKT is policy decision, State tells high court

Swati Deshpande I TNN

Mumbai: The state government stuck to its stand that it would allow Std X students to keep term and join first-year junior college. The government on Wednesday informed the Bombay high court that it had taken a policy decision to introduce the ATKT system for students who had failed in one or two subjects in Std X and, by mid-2010, a policy decision would be formally taken on the ATKT issue.

The state was responding to a PIL filed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, challenging the ATKT scheme for students joining junior college. The HC had earlier said the scheme could not be implemented till a judgement on the PIL was pronounced.

The advocate-general had earlier opined that one option was to have both ATKT as well as supplementary exams. The state said that its aim was to ensure that students did not have to repeat a year just for one or two failed papers.

Questioning the government’s last-minute decisions concerning academics, the court asked the state if there was adequate infrastructure to accommodate the additional students.