Over 5K students left out in ‘last’ list

For The First Time Since Admissions Went Online 3 Yrs Ago, Edu Dept To Issue Special Merit List For Those Without Colleges

Cut-Offs For Science & Arts Fall Drastically, But Only A Marginal Dip In Commerce

Yogita Rao and Shreya Bhandary | TNN

Mumbai: More than 5,000 students have still not been allotted seats in junior colleges even after the third and final general merit list was announced on Monday. For the first time since the online admission system was introduced three years ago, the school education department will put up a ‘special’ merit list on August 12 for these students. Last year, despite technical glitches and confusion over the Best-5 policy, a relatively fewer number of students—around 4,400—were not allotted seats online. Parents and students are not amused and said that this time round, there was no excuse for the education department to not account for all the students.

“Every year, the education department says there’s no reason to worry as there are more seats than students. Yet every year, thousands of students are left out of the online system. Why is that?” asked one angry parent.

A total of 48,944 students were allotted seats in the third general list; of these 28,524 students were assigned colleges for the first time while the rest were those who were eligible for the betterment option. It’s worth noting that while cutoffs in the science and arts streams have dropped noticeably in the third list, cut-offs among commerce colleges are still on the higher side—reflecting the popularity of the course.

The third merit list left many students—especially those who had chosen commerce—disappointed as they were unable to get a seat in a top-rung college. The admissions at NM College, for instance, closed at a high 92.50%. At HR College, the cut-off was 90%.

Kirti Narain, principal of Jai Hind College, Churchgate, said: “We have 60-70 seats still vacant in the commerce stream. The cut-off for commerce has gone down by just over one percent, but the science list has dropped from 91.86% to 86.54%.” The college has more than 200 vacant seats in all the streams.

Cut-offs for science at K J Somaiya College in Vidyavihar dropped by 4%. Principal Vijay Joshi said, “There are too many cancellations happening because of the betterment option. Students who have already sought admissions in bifocals are getting repeated allotments in the general list as well, which is why the cut-offs were high in the previous lists. But many students finally secured their seats, the cut-offs dropped drastically.” “The merit list was the last chance for students to exercise the betterment option. Once they secure their seat, we will know exactly how many seats are vacant. We can then accommodate the remaining 5,191 students,” said an official from the office of the deputy director of school education. “We will come out with the special list at 10am on August 12. Students will have to secure their seats by August 13.”

Admission In Numbers

Students who were allotted seats for the first time in the third list: 23,333 n Students with betterment options: 25,611

Students who have not been assigned any seat: 5,191

What next?
A special list will be announced on August 12 at 10am for students who have not been assigned a college. There is no betterment option for this list n Students who have been allotted seats in the special list will have to finalize admissions on August 12 and 13 Offline admissions | Will start on August 16 Students eligible for offline admissions

More than 22,000 students who have failed in either one or two subjects can avail the keep term (ATKT) scheme n Students from international schools affiliated with the Cambridge International Examination (CIE) boardn Students who have not managed to secure their seat in the online process even after the August 12 list Times View

For students, the path to junior college should herald a stimulating and exciting experience. Instead, it has become a harrowing experience for families, as students—after the stress of sitting for a board exam—are made to jump through hoops to secure a seat. Despite no last-minute government policies and no technical glitches, the online admission process was delayed for the third consecutive year. What’s worse is that thousands of students have been left out yet again. Instead of enjoying their first few months of college and participating in campus festivals, they will now have to make up for lost time to cover the upgraded syllabus. In other states, the authorities are looking at ways to ensure that teenagers are not put through unnecessary angst. In Mumbai, though, the education department has yet to get its act together.