Mumbai: Polytechnic diploma programmes continue to attract strong interest from students across Maharashtra, with 1,40,939 candidates securing a place in the final merit list for admissions this year. The list includes 1,40,368 students from Maharashtra, along with candidates from other states and special categories, reflecting sustained demand for technical diploma education.
A notable highlight of this year's admissions is the growing preference for polytechnic courses among high-performing students. As many as 6,799 candidates who scored above 90 per cent in their Class 10 examinations have figured in the final merit list, indicating that diploma programmes are increasingly being viewed as a credible pathway to technical education and engineering careers.
Last year, nearly 1.05 lakh students eventually secured admission to polytechnic institutes across the state. With this year's merit list witnessing a significant rise in eligible candidates, officials expect the final admission numbers to surpass last year's figures.
The merit list reveals that students across the academic spectrum, including top scorers, are choosing polytechnic programmes. It includes five students with a perfect 100 percent score, 352 students scoring between 96 and 99 percent, and 6,442 students securing between 90 and 95 percent. Together, nearly 7,000 students with over 90 per cent marks have opted for diploma admissions.
Additionally, 13,097 students scored between 85 and 89 per cent, while 18,525 candidates secured 80 to 84 per cent, underscoring the growing confidence among meritorious students in technical diploma education.
Open category students form the largest share
Category-wise data shows that the Open category accounts for the largest share, with 59,924 students (42.52 per cent)making the final merit list. This is followed by 32,652 students from the OBC category (23.17 per cent), 18,235 Scheduled Caste candidates (12.94 per cent), and 10,631 students from the SEBC category (7.54 per cent).
Gender-wise, 93,542 boys (66.37 per cent) and 47,397 girls (33.63 per cent) feature in the merit list. While female participation in higher education continues to rise, the figures suggest there remains scope to improve the enrolment of girls in technical diploma programmes.
Diverse participation across social categories
The admission process has also witnessed participation from students benefiting under various reservation and support schemes. A total of 34,197 candidates have applied under the Tuition Fee Waiver Scheme (TFWS), while 4,460 students belong to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category. The merit list also includes 5,332 candidates under technical categories and 394 students with disabilities.
The overall figures reflect the growing appeal of polytechnic education among students from diverse academic, social and economic backgrounds, reinforcing its role as an important avenue for skill-based higher education and employment opportunities in Maharashtra.
The State Board of Technical Education has changed the old curricula to make them skill-based courses directly required by the industries, and has set up a 'Center of Excellence' to provide world-class and employment-oriented technical education to the students of the state along with innovative subjects and laboratories. Due to the modernization done in the Technical Colleges and the employment opportunities available after the diploma, the polytechnic courses are getting a good response. This year, there has also been a big increase in the registration of applications, which will also increase the number of admissions. Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil expressed his confidence that the competition for admission to the Technical Colleges will be fierce.
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