E-Paper
State govt restores old in-house quota rule for Class 11 admissions after widespread opposition
As per the revised directive, students can now once again seek admission under the in-house quota even if their school and junior college are on separate campuses, as long as both fall under the same institution within the same district
Following strong opposition from school managements, students, parents, and various organisations, the Maharashtra state government has reversed a controversial new rule for Class 11 admissions under the in-house quota.
As per the revised directive, students can now once again seek admission under the in-house quota even if their school and junior college are on separate campuses, as long as both fall under the same institution within the same district.
This means a student who completes Class 10 in a school in the Pune district will now be eligible for Class 11 admission under the in-house quota in any junior college operated by the same institution in the district—even if the campuses are in different localities.
The online admission process for Class 11 is currently underway across the state. This year, for the first time, a new condition was introduced, stating that in-house quota admissions would be allowed only if the secondary school and junior college of the same institution were located on the same premises. This sparked fears that several students, particularly those from rural areas, would be denied in-house quota benefits despite being from the same institutional group.
In response, school managements and teachers’ associations wrote to the state government urging a rollback of the rule. Taking the feedback into account, the government on Saturday instructed the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Department to allow in-house quota admissions as per the earlier guidelines.
Additionally, 10% of seats will be reserved for students under the in-house quota in privately managed higher secondary schools and junior colleges.
When contacted, director of education Mahesh Palkar said, “For all parts of the state except Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs, and Thane, the revenue district will be considered the unit for the 10% in-house quota.”
“If a secondary school and its corresponding junior college operate under the same institution but are located in different places, the 10% in-house quota will still apply for Class 11 admissions through the online process as per the earlier rule,” he confirmed.
Mother of Sayali Gophane, a student of Renuka Swaroop School said that “We filled the admission form through a cyber cafe, but we were unaware of the in-house quota. Had we known about it earlier, my daughter could have benefited, as she has been studying in the same school. Unfortunately, neither the cyber cafe person nor the school teachers informed us about this option. What can we do now?”
