FYJC admission schedule revised, classes to start late in Maharashtra

Mumbai city news: The final timetable will be announced after it receives education minister Vinod Tawde’s nod.

The first year junior college (FYJC) sections in Maharashtra will start their sessions late this year. The state’s school education department has revised its admission schedule, postponing all merit lists by at least two days. The final timetable will be announced after it receives education minister Vinod Tawde’s nod.

This is being done after the department gave students more time to apply for admissions to compensate for the website crash, which happened frequently last week. (HT)

This is being done after the department gave students more time to apply for admissions to compensate for the website crash, which happened frequently last week. The site was shut down on June 23 for maintenance work, but students had complained that it was slow even after that.

On Wednesday evening, Gangadhar Mhamane, director of secondary education, and deputy directors of all regions in the state, met and decided to reschedule admissions for the entire state.

“We have proposed that the merit lists be pushed further by two days. This will change the whole timetable,” said BB Chavan, deputy-director of education, Mumbai region. The department is waiting for Vinod Tawde, education minister’s approval before releasing the updated schedule.

According to education officers, since the application deadline has been extended to June 29 from June 27, the general merit list, in which all applicants are ranked according to their percentage, will be pushed further by a couple of days and is likely to be declared on July 3 instead of June 30. The first merit list may be announced on July 10 instead of July 7. Similarly, second and third merit lists will be postponed accordingly.

Colleges complained that if admissions are delayed further, they will spill over into August and September, eating into the academic year. “Ever since the admission process moved online, our Class 11 lectures begin only by the end of August or September,” said Marie Fernandes, principal, St Andrew’s College, Bandra. She added that this left them with little time to complete the portion. “By the time admissions are done, the first unit test is upon us,” she said.

Last year, the admission process went on till September, as the department was forced to conduct multiple special rounds since students were unhappy with seats allotted to them in the four merit lists. “Some colleges have adopted the policy of starting classes after the third merit list is announced, but students admitted later that they lose out on the lectures,” said Vidyadhar Joshi, principal, Vaze Kelkar College, Mulund.

The number of registrations shot up to 2.49 lakh from 2.36 lakh on Wednesday, after the application deadline was extended on Tuesday. Around 2.32 lakh among them completed filling out their entire application, while the rest are in the process of verifying their forms.