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Latest News |
| 12th
February 2010 / Times of India / Mumbai Edition |
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Last-minute admission policies throw students off course
Mumbai: Alice in Wonderland (or Blunderland) could well
be the name of a book on Maharashtras admission policies,
which have been changing every year since 2008, and have
been announced at the eleventh hour. Some policies have
been passed a few weeks before the admissions started,
and some have even been passed after the admission process
began. And now, in the middle of February, weeks before
the SSC, ICSE and CBSE exams will start, Class X students
are clueless on the policies that will govern them later
this year.
In fact, the government has just opened the floor for
discussion on its new best of 5 policy for junior college
admissions, which it hopes to introduce this year itself.
In a bid to standardise the marks scored by SSC students
and those of other boards, the government wants to introduce
a system where the marks in the best five subjects are
counted during junior college admissions for SSC students.
But no final decision has been taken on the matter yet.
While the online admission system , which was made compulsory
for Mumbai last year, was a bit of a disaster, the government
had earlier said that it wanted to introduce the system
across Maharashtra from 2010. But the state has yet to
take a final call on the matter.
When TOI contacted Sanjay Kumarwho has been Maharashtras
school education secretary since 2008on whether any final
decision had been taken on the admission front, he said
that TOI was aware of what was happening on the matter.
When we asked him why admission policies were being passed
at the very last minute, the line went dead.
The problem with the state education system is that it
is being run by babus who dont give a damn, said Xavier
Luis, the parent of an ICSE student who took the government
to court over its admission policies in 2008. The government
lost the case.
In June 2008, the night the admission process started
for junior college, the state government floated a government
resolution on its website introducing its percentile system,
which involved admitting students to junior college taking
into account their percentile rank calculated using a
formula released by the government. The system was challenged
in the Bombay high court by ICSE parents, schools as well
as the ICSE board, as they felt the formula favoured SSC
students. The high court dismissed percentiles, and asked
the state government to come out with its policies well
in advance.
Thats a piece of advice the government refused to heed.
In 2009, weeks before the admissions were to begin, the
government announced that all junior colleges would have
to reserve 90% of their seats for SSC students. Once again
the policy was challenged in the high court and later
thrown out. Admission policies should be announced at
least two years in advance . This will give children time
to switch schools, or for that matter states, before they
reach Class X, said a city parent.
Of course, college admissions should be announced well
in advance , said the principal of a reputed Mumbai college.
I feel that, instead of coming out with policies to compare
students from different boards, Maharashtra should work
towards putting its curriculum as well as assessment system
on a par with the national boards. In junior college,
we do find SSC students lagging behind their counterparts
in other boards, said another college principal.
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