Mumbai: In an attempt to accommodate the increasing number of students seeking admissions in the First Year Junior College (FYJC), state education department aims to increase the total number of seats. Students of the state board will have a tough time to secure seats in FYJC due to high percentages scored by students of private boards in Class 10.
Large number of students of ICSE and CBSE board have secured high scores in Class X examinations this year. Among these, students who wish to shift to the state board for FYJC will face tough competition due to the limited number of seats.
Also, students will have to fight for seats at the degree college level after completing their Class XII from private boards. In order to tackle this problem and accommodate more students, the state education department aims to increase the total number of seats for FYJC from this year.
Also, the state is inviting new colleges to register for online FYJC admission process. A senior officer managing FYJC admissions, said, “We want to get more colleges so that there are large number of seats available for students. The competition for seats increases every year with the high scores secured by students of all boards.
We do not want to deprive any student who wants to secure admission under FYJC irrespective of their board of study.” Students studying Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board are awaiting their results. These students fear the possibility of not getting seats in good colleges for FYJC.
Jasminder Badra, a student, said, “We have not received our results yet but we do fear, whether we can get seats for the course of our choice and in the top colleges due to the increasing competition. This competition has increased due to the percentage students get in the private boards.”
Parents and teachers claimed, the state board students have always faced stiff competition from other boards. Ridhima Banerjee, a teacher, said, “The marking system is different for the state and private board, which is the reason students from private boards score higher. The fight increases for the seats in higher education.”
Parents have welcomed the move by the government and said it was time these measures were taken. Hitesh Mehta, a parent said, “It is good to see the state taking initiatives to help students in seeking admissions. No student should be deprived of admissions due to lack of seats.”
