Hunt for new college admission formula begins

The Mumbai government is working towards developing a new formula to give Secondary School Certificate students a level playing field in college admissions. Serena Menon reports.

The state government is working towards developing a new formula to give Secondary School Certificate (SSC) students a level playing field in college admissions. Normally, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students would score higher because of the pattern of their exams, giving them the choicest college seats.

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Last year, the state made an attempt at ‘normalising’ (read re-formulating) marks of students of all boards through a ‘percentile’ formula based on the average score of the top 10 toppers of every board.

So, if a student of a board scored 84 per cent and the toppers’ average was 94 per cent, the student’s ‘normalised’ marks would be calculated as 84/94 x 100 = 89.36

The high court, however, struck it down, terming it discriminatory and hasty. The court said the state could develop a new formula in its place.

Now, the state has shortlisted four ideas from those suggested at a conference of principals, educationists and the media, convened by Education Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. Principal Secretary (Secondary Education) Sanjay Kumar said, “We will come out with a new formula, although I cannot guarantee that we will implement it this year.”

The four suggestions are: setting a quota in colleges for CBSE and ICSE students, choosing the sum of the subjects in which the student scored the highest, a standard curriculum for all educational boards and a fresh normalisation formula. It’s unclear when the state will decide which option to enforce.