FYJC 2019: More seats in popular Mumbai colleges this year over SSC internal marks gaffe
According to the newly-appointed School Education Minister Ashish Shelar, the number of seats for Science stream in Mumbai will be increased by 5%, Commerce by 8% and Arts by 8% (Representational Image, Courtesy: DuBeat)
After being slammed for scrapping the internal assessment marks for SSC students, which led to lesser scores and lower pass percentage, the Maharashtra government has decided to increase the number of seats in FYJC colleges.
The decision to augment the number of overall seats for class 11 admissions will provide a level playing field for the students of the state SSC board, and increase the probability for them to secure admissions in their colleges of choice.
The SSC students are battling higher cut-offs for admission in first-year junior college (FYJC) as they are facing competition from the students of ISCE and CBSE boards whose scores included internal assessment marks.
Newly-appointed School Education Minister Ashish Shelar told the Legislative Assembly that the number of seats for science stream in Mumbai will be increased by 5 percent and eight percent for Arts and Commerce stream.
In Nagpur and Pune divisions, the number of seats will go up by ten percent across Arts, Commerce and Science streams.
The seats will be increased in the most sought-after colleges during the admission process, which began today.
The decision was taken after a discussion with the principals of schools in Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune, the minister told a gathering at Jai Hind College in Mumbai, where principals of over 50 colleges were present.
Shelar said the decision has been taken in the view of resentment over scrapping of the internal assessment marks for the SSC board students.
The move, which had garnered strong criticism from students, parents, and the opposition, however, has not gone down well with Mumbai Junior College Teachers’ Union (MJCTU).
The union, which has over 4,000 teachers as members, has threatened to go on strike of the decision is not rolled back. The MJCTU has cited increased workload on teachers as the reason for opposing the move.
A total 16,77,267 students appeared for the Class 10 exams held in March this year, out of which, 12,66,861 students (75.53 percent) cleared the exams.
