Mumbai: Weeks after restarting, junior college await clarity on FYJC exams

Colleges said the department is yet to come up with guidelines on how to plan the academic year since the beginning of the new academic year was delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the Supreme Court’s interim stay on Maratha quota.

More than two weeks after first-year junior colleges (FYJC) in the state began their new academic year, the education department is yet to give clarity on the academic calendar and conduct of exams.

Admissions for FYJC are still underway with over 1.22 lakh seats remaining vacant. The first-come first-served round, which is currently in process, will end on January 31. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Colleges said the department is yet to come up with guidelines on how to plan the academic year since the beginning of the new academic year was delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the Supreme Court’s interim stay on Maratha quota.

“We are awaiting guidelines about the conduct of exams. Even as FYJC exams are conducted at the college level, some amount of uniformity and clarity is needed,” said the principal of a suburban college.

Vidyadhar Joshi, vice-principal of VG Vaze College in Mulund, said the college has already finished about 10% of its syllabus. “Since we started online classes after completing the required number of admissions, we are not worried about completing the syllabus. However, we don’t know about the exams yet as there is no communication from the board or the department so far,” he added.

As per the norms for admissions set by the education department, colleges can start their classes after 75% of their total seats are filled. Most colleges in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) began their classes from the first week of January.

With very little teaching hours left this year, colleges are now worried about conducting exams. “Time might not permit to conduct these many exams this year and the department can consider having only two exams — a unit test and a semester exam,” said Satram Verhani, vice-principal of CHM College in Ulhasnagar.

Admissions for FYJC are still underway with over 1.22 lakh seats remaining vacant. The first-come first-served round, which is currently in process, will end on January 31.