Colleges seek ways to accommodate non-state board students

Admissions to UG degree courses this year is currently being conducted for only state board (HSC) students as class 12 students from CBSE and CISCE boards are still waiting for their results

Mumbai Admissions to minority quota across colleges affiliated with the University of Mumbai had to be completed by Saturday, June 25 this year. However, taking into consideration that non-state board students are still awaiting results in order to be able to apply, city colleges are finding ways to ensure that no student with merit goes without a seat in a college or course of his/her choice.

While the circular released by the university on June 20 states that all MU-affiliated colleges, including autonomous institutes, will have to follow the admission schedule as prescribed by the varsity and accommodate students from CBSE and CISCE boards ‘in due course’, it gives no clarity on how these applications will be accommodated by individual colleges (HT Photo)

“We are finishing in-house admissions at present for traditional courses (BA, BCom and BSc). Admissions to self-financed courses will depend on an entrance exam which will be held next week and we are allowing all students, results or not, to appear for the exam. Minority admissions too, will be conducted next week,” said Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College, Churchgate.

Admissions to UG degree courses this year is currently being conducted for only state board (HSC) students as class 12 students from CBSE and CISCE boards are still waiting for their results. This move by the university has invited flak from non-state board students as well as colleges, who have called it unfair and chaotic.

“We have gone through our admissions figures from the last few years and realised that in some cases, nearly 60-65% seats in self-financed courses have gone to non-state board students. So to keep this fair, we have decided to announce the first merit list and minority list, together, next week. We have also decided to announce another list for non-state board students in July, once their results are announced, to ensure all students are allowed admission based on merit,” said Pooja Ramchandani, principal HR College. She added that the institute has decided to apply for extra seats for courses where the number of eligible candidates is higher than the current intake capacity.

While the circular released by the university on June 20 states that all MU-affiliated colleges, including autonomous institutes, will have to follow the admission schedule as prescribed by the varsity and accommodate students from CBSE and CISCE boards ‘in due course’, it gives no clarity on how these applications will be accommodated by individual colleges.

“We are leaving this to individual colleges to decide how they want to conduct admissions—they can either reserve seats for non-state board students or request the university for additional seats once CBSE and ISC results are out,” said an official from the University of Mumbai.

As per the university admissions process, eligible students from all boards have to compulsorily fill up the pre-admission enrollment form, which requires basic details like name, age, name of school, etc. Once the enrollment is done, students are then supposed to list their preference of college and courses, where the admission link directs students to the respective college website, and students are then allowed to fill-in details of their class 12 score.

With no marks in hand, CBSE and CISCE students are not getting directed to the individual college websites. Parents and students are worried that without being allowed to register for admissions with individual colleges, they will have no idea of the number of students interested in admissions.

“As a college affiliated with MU, we have no choice but to follow the varsity’s schedule. We have started minority quota admissions, but only for traditional courses at present. In case of self-financed courses, we are hoping that results for CBSE and ISC students are announced at the earliest and students have enough time to apply for seats in colleges of their choice,” said Neha Jagtiani, principal, RD National College, Bandra.

St Xavier’s College Mumbai has decided to start admissions for state board students as per the schedule shared by the University of Mumbai, and reserve seats for students from CBSE and CISCE board as per the last few years’ intake.

A handful of colleges, however, have decided to conduct admissions as per the university schedule. “Once all results are out, we will find a way to accommodate the non-state board students as well,” said Marie Fernandes, principal of St Andrew’s College.