DoE scrambles to fill seats as students’ shun sciences in Delhi govt schools
Principals of many schools with fewer admissions than the sanctioned strength cited two major reasons for not being able to fill all seats in science stream—not many students like to study Mathematics, and an increasing number have preferred humanities.
Following fewer admissions in the science stream in class 11 against the sanctioned strength, the Delhi government has directed the principals of all its schools to encourage students to opt for the subject. The Directorate of Education (DoE) has also asked all schools to carry on with the admission process till August 31 to fill the vacant seats in the science stream in class 11.
According to a circular issued by the DoE, the heads of the schools (HoS) were told, “It has been observed that in some of the schools, the science section of class 11 has less than 40 students (sanctioned strength). In order to address the situation, all the heads of government schools under the DoE are directed to encourage and motivate the eligible students to opt for science stream in class 11.”
The DoE has further asked that the schools fill the vacant seats by August 31.
An official in the DoE said that this problem is mostly being faced in all-girls’ schools and schools located in the northeast, northwest and outer parts of the city. “It has been observed that many schools in these areas have less than 20 students in their science sections in class 11. The DoE has asked the schools to go through the applications again and check if any eligible candidate is left,” the official said.
Of the 1,031 state-run schools in the city, around 310 offer science stream in classes 11 and 12.
Principals of many schools with fewer admissions than the sanctioned strength cited two major reasons for not being able to fill all seats in science stream—not many students like to study Mathematics, and an increasing number have preferred humanities.
Manju Lata, vice-principal of a government girls’ school in Kanjhawala village in northwest Delhi, said, “At present, we have 20 students in science stream. The strength is considerably low here because not many students want to take science. Girls’ students specially prefer humanities because they will have a lot of options for graduation after that.”
Students also cited similar reasons for not opting to study sciences. Mohit Kumar, a humanities student at government boys’ senior secondary school in Karol Bagh, said, “Many of my classmates, including me, did not want to study mathematics and so we chose humanities. Very few government schools have commerce stream as a third option.”
Meanwhile, some principals said that the government should not “force” schools to fill the seats. “Science is not an easy stream and those who were really interested in the subject have already opted for it. It’s always better students should take such decisions on their own. Later, it becomes difficult for them and for the schools,” said the head of a school in east Delhi who wished not to be named.