FYJC admissions: Maharashtra education department discusses challenges, possible solutions with different exam boards

Even as the state education department has announced the cancellation of the last paper of SSC exam, it now has the challenge of planning for the first year junior college (FYJC) admissions with several challenges coming up due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown.

Even as the state education department has announced the cancellation of the last paper of SSC exam, it now has the challenge of planning for the first year junior college (FYJC) admissions with several challenges coming up due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown.

Even as the state education department has announced the cancellation of the last paper of SSC exam, it now has the challenge of planning for the first year junior college (FYJC) admissions with several challenges coming up due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown. (HT file)

In a meeting that took place between officials from the various boards and the education department a few days ago, the possible issues with respect to FYJC admissions, the process for which usually begins in June, were discussed. “The status of all the three key boards- SSC, CBSE and ICSE is different when it comes to Class 10 exams. While the SSC board has cancelled its last papers and the CBSE has completed its main exams, the ICSE is yet to come up with a decision on the remaining papers. This might lead to issues with respect to equivalence of marks for which the government would have to come up with a plan,” said an official who was present at the meeting. “These are however issues that can be resolved later depending on how things pan out,” the official added.

Vaishali Bafna, from the System Correcting Movement (SYSCOM), a Pune-based think-tank said that the government would have to come up with a concrete plan to ensure that no students have an added advantage. “They would first have to see how the remaining papers for other boards are conducted to take a call. Since students from other boards are only a small percent in the overall application, having a common policy should not be very difficult,” said Bafna.

Meanwhile, parents from the state are now requesting the HRD ministry to reduce the syllabus for Classes 1 to 12 due to the current situation in the country. “Students will be under a lot of pressure to study the entire syllabus once school reopens,” said Anubha Sahai, president of the Indiawide Parents Association who wrote to the ministry on Monday.